Red Heads
by yorushihe
Summary: Just a crazy idea that popped in the mysterious place I call my mind... Or the story in which Namikaze Minato is actually Namikaze Minako and Uzumaki Kushina is actually Uzumaki Shinaku and he meets Dorea Potter who is addicted to red heads. fem!Harry, male!Kushina, fem!Minato...
1. Chapter 1

Gen Summary: Dorea picks Naruto world to fall into, tries to seamlessly ingrate herself in Konoha and end causing trouble. The good sort.  
Warnings: Kiss cannon goodbye. Fem!Minato and male!Kushina. Mentions of genderbent HP characters like Susan Bones (who is now Dave Bones). Shifting POVs. Dorea/male!Kushina (because why the heck not?). Meddling Mikoto.

Notes: This was made purely to help me grasp conversation flows… I suck at those, so if you have any pointers, feel free to add!

Intro

 **Red Heads**

 _ **A little what if story.**_

 _Or the story in which Namikaze Minato is actually Namikaze Minako and Uzumaki Kushina is actually Uzumaki Shinaku and he meets Dorea Potter who is addicted to red heads._

Prologue…  
or Which Pillar Should Dorea Go In?

Do you know what happens when a child is holding a philosopher Stone and it explodes in their hand?

No?

Neither did Dorea when Nicholas Flamel's little trinket decided to go kaboom on her face when she was 11… no one ever tested to see what happens when a child drinks the elixir of life. Presumably they would stop growing altogether, though now Dorea knew differently.

A magical child's magic starts settling around their 11th birthday, when puberty hormones are beginning to show their faces and kids go from being children to that awkward pre-pubescent stage. It is the right time to pick a wand and bond with it because a child's magic's personality is finishing being molded.

Then comes the second stage of magical adulthood. By around seventeen magic has matured completely and has reached its potential only bound by the body's limit. That's why seventeen is the agreed upon majority age in the conclaves by the ICW. After seventeen, the magical in question only has to wait until their body finishes growing and they are out of the teenage numbers and happily on their twenties. A body can reach max potential by twenty one to thirty, in which time metabolism is at its peak and which youth can be extended for a decade or two until a magical's body equates itself to a muggle's.

Magicals are naturally longer lived, after all. The ageing rate is determined by magical potential, body overall health and genetics. Though magic is likened to a live being and cannot be held in such mundane parameters, sometimes it has a will of its own (such is the case with Squibs or ridiculously overpowered individuals like Dumbledore and Tom Riddle).

When she was born, Dorea was as far from common a magical as, let us say, her father. Though she had no special talent as far as magical talents go like her godfather' second cousin Nymphadora who happened to be a metamorphmagus – she had the potential to be a brilliant witch and live a long, comfortable life compared to the mediocre, like her godfather's other second cousin, Draco. Lily was an uncommonly powerful witch thanks to her smarts, and by some hidden genetic mechanics, when old bloodlines are fed new blood, example: Lily adding to James' family, huge potential is unlocked. (Like the ridiculously overpowered individuals cited above).

So Dorea was born with a leg up compared to a few her peers, that's not uncommon and much less revered – she was still a baby at the time, no matter how ridiculously overpowered she'd grow to be, right at that moment she was just a defenseless babe. And that was what Voldemort was counting on when he blasted his way into her nursery and demanded Lily to hand her child. Lily pled for Dorea's life instead of her own, unknowingly putting Voldermot in quite a conundrum that he solved in a moment's time by killing Lily.

Only, the fact he killed Lily activated a magical debt – Severus Snape, who swore fealty to not one, but two Opposite Powers so Lily's life could be spared had his trust broken when not only Voldermort, but Dumbledore as well did not respect the terms of his vow. And when Lily begged for her life instead, wishing against Severus magical oaf, all of it transferred from Lily to Dorea the moment Voldemort killed the mother. So little Dorea was the one being protected by the power of a vow.

It showed when Voldemort's killing curse rebounded and off'ed him instead.

Of course it didn't end there. Dorea was given to her aunt, and when she was eleven, she received the biggest shock of her short life until then. Yes, she was a witch. And when she was eleven and a half, a philosopher stone exploded on her face.

The vow from Severus Snape that protected her as a child against Voldemort still worked, and magic revolted against the Dark Lord trying to break his word to his bound servant twice – for Severus Snape traded his freedom for Lily's life and _that_ end of their bargain was not met. Thus, when a Voldemort-possessed teacher tried yet again to harm little Dorea, it was his end. In a fiery, dramatically painful way.

A couple of years later she'd finally defeat Voldemort for sure and think she had the chance of a normal life. She thought that until she reached forty two and looked no older than twenty. The conclusion she and Hermione came to was that the Philosopher Stone only came into effect the moment Dorea matured completely in both body and magic… "Maybe your body absorbed a bit of the stone when… you know. It should be temporary, Nicholas Flamel needed yearly doses of the Elixir of Life" Though when she reached a hundred and looked no older than twenty – Hermione's theory was shot and something even worst happened: the magicals grew restless enough to move against her it seemed.

And now she knows what happens when philosopher stones explode on one's face.

They are sealed in a time chamber to spend forever locked up in oblivion.

Literally.

…

At first Dorea thought the blame belonged to the hallows and the whole mythological nonsense of being the Master of Death. As if death could be tamed by measly three little items made by itself.

The Stone… she tossed it, cracked and flaking, in the middle of the Forbidden Forest never to be found again. The Elder wand was later buried with its last wielder under tons of cement just to be sure. The Cloak was an heirloom and Dorea refused to part with it until the very end, though it couldn't save her anyway.

Dorea was not the Master of Death, for all she sometimes wished for the mythical title. At least then the ignorant fools surrounding her would lay off her case. Just because she was slightly immortal due to happenstances of fate, does not mean she suddenly got the urge to eradicate them all like the last Dark Lord she dispatched.

It started all on a Sunday morning.

Dorea slipped out of her London flat to buy some much needed groceries. She never made it to the store, for pitching a decided siege was the whole of the Auror Squad – Dorea didn't even know she was under siege! Hermione, now with thinning white hair, eight grandchildren and recent widower tried to warn her, but Dorea shrugged her oldest (live) friend off. It's not as if the wizards would turn against their number one celebrity out of sheer ignorance… wouldn't they?

But then someone had the brilliant idea of comparing Dorea's life with Tom Riddle's when a couple of months went by without any scandals in the life of high society, they grew bored in peace. One conspirancy circle after another added fuel to the fire and then, before she could even comprehend, she was a rising Dark Lady who ate baby souls and kitten hearts to keep her youth.

Since all her friends were kissing their first century, and thus were not really in condition to help Dorea's persecution, Dorea was caught by the Auror corps – who were hailed as heroes – and taken to the ministry of magic where a crypt awaited for her. She didn't struggle, simply because she knew it would be useless in proving her innocence.

"Dorea Victoria Potter, for your crimes against the conclaves, you are hereby condemned by the court and the ICW for a lifetime in the sealed chamber" Spoke someone Dorea didn't care to know. The time chamber was actually a glorified sarcophagus though, and didn't seem that cozy.

Funny she was being condemned when there wasn't even a trial to speak of. "I don't suppose I forgot to be present at the trial again, did I really?" She asked just to be sure. Her executioner sneered, rightful anger in his eyes. Though it certainly wasn't the last time the ministry conveniently 'forgot' to warn her about supercilious things such as life-changing tribunals in section. "Well, you people whom I saved at one time won't even give me the benefit of the doubt?"

The answer was an unanimous NO when Dorea next found herself shoved in a magic negating crypt, the world around her being swallowed by darkness.

Immortality was a capital crime, it seemed. Why didn't they try to execute her anyway? An Avada Kadavra to the forehead would do since all her protections against it were gone (Snape's vow and Voldemort's horcruxe). But no, they had to be thinking she split her soul like her old foe. Thus the magic negating crypt. Presumably until they found and destroyed all her imaginary horcruxes.

The first few days were horrible. Dorea lost all sense of time in the total darkness – she existed in a limbo in which her only salvation was the sound of her own heart and the lava like sound her blood made in her veins. Hunger came and went, though she was slightly unused to the hunger pangs since she's been about eighty years away from the Dursleys. Counting heartbeats became a past time, and she counted about seven hundred thousand beats before anything else happened (about a week, 4k beats an hour).

"You know, you could have fought back" Hermione's voice cut through the silence, Dorea could barely move, but she managed enough strength to open her eyes a crack. "I know you didn't want any troubles, and I'm sorry that people never learn…"

Split lips parted in a mock of a smile, blood caking under her chin from all the biting she did (just to feel something). A cup was positioned in front of her mouth, Dorea's eyebrow went up. "Draught of Living Death. I'm sorry Dorea, there is no way to smuggle you out of here – we are currently in the lowest basement level of the ministry and there is only a single passage up. It's been warded specifically against you… so drink this up, it should keep you alive long enough for me to find another way to help you"

Down the gullet went the potion. The effects were instantaneous. Dorea's parlor became deathly pale and the bruises under her eyes only made the effect more terrifying. Hermione checked for a heartbeat and found none – the DoLD did as described, putting the victi- patient under a state similar to death.

Well, Hermione gave a deep breath, this was it, she supposed. The old looking witch caressed her reckless friend's face one last time before sealing the crypt once more – she could hear the sound of the Aurors she had Ginny distract coming back. Time to do some pro-Dorea campaign.

…

Hermione lost.

…

Her throat felt parched, the skin around her eyes was tight and she could barely breathe without flinching – her ribs were protesting too much… The stale air in her crypt seemingly got worse too. But there was a limelight. Literally. A thin veil of light inundated her prison, and Dorea would revel in it as soon as the DoLD's effects passed – had Hermione left a crack open in the crypt purposely? But then, Dorea never heard of someone being revived unattended after pretending being dead. Where was her friend? So Dorea stretched a much used muscle, filling her small prison with magic to help recovery faster – to her surprise, her magic surged forward like an eager little puppy and exploded in a halo around her body.

Little motes of magic flames twinkled in the crypt, heightening Dorea's field of vision and allowing her to take account. Naked skin met her eyes, the air was dusty and there were small decayed plastic bottoms that used to adorn her robes lined up on her chest along with a trail of what used to be thread. The stiff cushion underneath her was gone too – so she was laying on a pile of surprisingly comfortable dust.

Having a strange hunch that magic would work perfectly well wandlessly, Dorea flexed and tensed her magic muscle, wishing for her crypt to be clean at least – the dirt and dust were gone the next second. And Second on her list were clothes. The ministry humiliated her enough that Dorea didn't want to flash them all her pale buttocks to complete the assemble… A wish later, and she was wearing a simple black, shapeless dress (she's never been the creative sort).

Time to make a grand exit.

Feeling indescribable excitement curling in her belly, along with an inexplicable dread, Dorea pushed open her prison…

…

Dorea blinked. Then blinked again. She was floating beside her crypt in an endless looking space. There were beautiful pillars of light in variating colors all around her. Just where in Merlin's name was she?

Looking behind her wielded the same scene, only existing scant few centimeters behind her was one of those pillars… now paying attention to it, Dorea could see the Cracks. Desperation filling her heart for as of now, unknown reasons.

Dorea leapt over her crypt and stood on top of it, reaching out a hand to touch the pillars, finger pads passing over a single crack.

It was enough.

…

" _Magic exists folks! Like fairytales, witches and wizards all around us!"_

" _You mundane people have a right to know about our hidden world. We will be walking together toward a new Era of peace and prosperity"_

" _Can magic cure cancer? This reporter is here with the audience at St. Dorea Victoria Hospital for Medical Research to hear directly from Dr. Ainsworth, who is the specialist behind this surprising and revolutionary cure! – Dr. Ainsworth, how does this work?"_

"… _and we're here today with Timmy Dare, the explorer extraordinaire who has fearlessly braved a Dragon reserve and is now going to tell us everything about it…"_

" _Technology stocks have been in descent ever since magic was discovered. Specialists suppose that magic substitutes technological needs, thus investments decreased. Selected groups are wondering if this stable development times will help with global warming"_

" _DMwordR wrote (04:34): U no wat I tink? Dey wan us dfenceless so dey kn hav it all.  
KervemoxMonster wrote (04:38): U said it man.  
Bellexxxaims wrote (04:39): Your grammar sucks. Go read something.  
Alaine1289 wrote (04:52): Magic developers have designed a moon shuttle, shut up, magic is helping us grow without damaging the ecosystems!  
DMwordR wrote (04:53): I no blive dat. Y dey help us at all? We all gonna die if we don do smthing.  
KervemoxMonster wrote (04:54): My da say the military r working in anti-magic stuff, y they do that if their no threat right?  
Bellexxxaims wrote (04:55): Your grammar sucks too.  
Alaine1289 is typing…"_

" _Yesterday afternoon a group of magical terrorist have caused terror and fear throughout US east coast. They had a hostage that was brutally murdered in some pagan rite in front of the cameras, more news? Access our webpage at -"_

" _The Insurgence has tried yet again to revive one of the most polemical Dark Ladies to ever walk this Earth. In her youth, Dorea Potter vanquished a Dark Lord and returned peace to Europe after said Dark Lord's long reign of terror – of which great part spilled unnoticed by us, to the so called then by our magical peers, "muggle world" – Only Dorea Potter went mad with power lust and committed unmentionable crimes to obtain Immortality. She was arrested and sentenced to life prison, though she perished in captivity when the brave effort of law enforcement located and destroyed all her "horcruxes", or soul pieces. To this day, the good deeds of Dorea still stand recognized, though they couldn't erase the abomination she later was responsible for. The Insurgence of Magical Might believes Dorea Potter can be used as a weapon against muggles, since her history with the non-magical people is a turbulent one…"_

" _Did you know that each and every one of those so called magical people have a deadly weapon in their hand? Even the smallest child can cast hexes and curses that us, common folk can't stand against! If they are allowed weapons, why aren't we?"_

" _Movements against magic have broken all across the globe. The more vocals are not above militia tactics"_

" _Witches and Wizards! We should unite against the muggles! Our trust in them has been broken, let them know who are their betters!"_

" _A War of devastating proportions! We are now speaking live from the UN in five-"_

"…"

…

Whatthebloodyhellhappened?

"What the bloody hell happened?" Dorea found herself being ejected harshly away from the crumbling thing! The pillar shook, creaked and then, before her very eyes, turned to a fine dust that coalesced in the center of what once (she supposed) was a time-stream… or maybe an universe? A reality?

All Dorea could think of was that her entire life was in that thing – she recognized some names and faces from the flashes of information received from the crack – the conclaves, in a last ditch to save themselves, abused things that were not meant for them to abuse. Like time. And by erasing the muggles altogether by killing the Ancestor they also erased that reality itself since the very foundation of it depended on muggles surviving… that's what happens when you kill your own grandfather… for all magicals would have liked to think themselves special, they came from the same place muggles did.

That and trying to resurrect her? She wasn't even dead! What kind of monstrosities had been done that the very reality cracked?

Then why had she survived? How long has she been in the crypt? From the memories of the crumbling pillar she gathered that at least a century has passed… maybe the ministry morons thought they could get rid of her by tossing her prison in the Death Archway? Didn't work… that. Snort.

Hahah..haha! She was the one having the last laugh.. hahhaha..haha… ha… sob. Sob, hiccup.

…

She didn't know how long she spent curled up on her crypt crying her eyes out. But it was long enough for her to grow sleepy and hungry anyway, so utterly miserable, Dorea shook her head and stood up straight. She had to do something for herself right now, because she wouldn't be able to survive solely on conjured water (food was still impossible to conjure, she's tried).

Still melancholic, Dorea's eyes searched for the nearest pillar. It stood a couple of meters away from her crumbled one – so she swam over, abandoning her prison with a fair share of disdain. This pillar was a swirling mess of oranges, blues and purples, and the moment her hand touched the flickering surface of the thing, she was able to see into it.

A vortex of colors. Dorea stared wide eyed. Beautiful harmonic colors flashing all around in small bursts, until something unexpected happened… a '60 styled police phone booth came hurling through the color vortex in a blue streak, soaring through where Dorea floated outside and nearly hitting the wall she hid behind on.

Curious despite herself, Dorea decided to swim to another light pillar, and so she did, reaching another one hued mainly in purples. Touching it did the same thing the last one did, and Dorea was now peeking inside _that_ vortex. It looked like a tourbillion of purple fire, exotic and mysterious, Dorea spent nearly an hour (by her perception) simply gazing into it until something happened, similarly to the last pillar. Something came flying from the depth of the vortex, floating up and up until it disappeared somewhere along the way…

"Blue police phone boxes, now _girls!_ " She mumbled to herself. And indeed, a _girl_ just went through – dark haired and wearing a Japanese school girl outfit, with a huge yellow backpack and a pink bicycle.

Dorea just skipped to the next pillar, and then the next, unable to decide which one she wanted in… They better be nicer than her old one.

…


	2. Chapter 2

Gen Summary: Dorea picks Naruto world to fall into, tries to seamlessly ingrate herself in Konoha and end causing trouble. The good sort.  
Warnings: Kiss cannon goodbye. Fem!Minato and male!Kushina. Mentions of genderbent HP characters like Susan Bones (who is now Dave Bones). Shifting POVs. Dorea/male!Kushina (because why the heck not?). Meddling Mikoto.

Notes: This was made purely to help me grasp conversation flows… I suck at those, so if you have any pointers, feel free to add!

Intro

 **Red Heads**

 _ **A little what if story.**_

 _Or the story in which Namikaze Minato is actually Namikaze Minako and Uzumaki Kushina is actually Uzumaki Shinaku and he meets Dorea Potter who is addicted to red heads._

…

Part: The First.  
 _Falling_

Dorea watched as stars trickled by her in a rapid, confusing motion as she zeroed on an inhabited planet, any planet but Earth (She didn't think she'd be able to handle seeing familiar sights but without the familiar people). The moment she chose – quite at random – a pillar of light out of the grand variety of selections, she sunk into the vortex and became part of it.

Images flashed before her eyes as she traveled, endless possible worlds stood before her in a vast, completely new universe. But then, just as she was about to pick at random again, something pulled her attention to a small world orbiting a sun similar to her last one.

So similar in fact, that even the small planet shared a blue hue and likely continental proportions – meaning a majority of its surface was covered by water.

By pulling on the strings still tying her to the _Outside_ , Dorea caught glimpses of that world's history.

She saw as a being of great power moved there as well, only things didn't end well for it – an inhabitant of that world ate part of that being and that event was actually a knot in the universe's history, a fixed point in time that affected all worlds tied to the same stream.

She could see all possible futures as branches coming out of the same trunk, and having her interest picked, Dorea decided to chose one between many.

Funny thing about these branches, as she came to understand, was that as long as you don't cut the main body, there could be infinite possible worlds existing in the same vortex – parallel worlds that varied according to different paths in the world's history (witches and wizards managed to cut the _roots_ of her own world by killing the muggle/magical Ancestors, so the very pillar of reality collapsed).

As long as one branch thrived, the 'tree' would also live.

Complicated time webs aside, Dorea was reminded acutely of Yggdrasil in the picture she formed in her mind.

One of the few 'branches' that caught her eyes was very interesting – amongst many in which the future ended in tragedy, one or two did not – one of the few that didn't end with the world' stagnation (and thus the universe ending) was about a young blond child (either male or female) who fought against fate and brought peace to their land – a scarily familiar situation. Then her attention turned to some of the ruined futures – that boy didn't exist in some of them, but the _why_ made Dorea amused.

His parents were _genderbent_.

That version was doomed to fail because the child would never inherit the monster in their stomach (the monster in question would remain in his _father's_ belly), so Dorea wouldn't feel any guilt by interfering with that world (mostly because she _needed_ to feel useful again) – and maybe because she thought what happened to her old world was her fault… _if only she could have done something..!_

Whatever it was, Dorea felt attracted to that thread the most.

So she fell into it with her decision.

…

Part: The Second.  
 _Meeting_

It's rare to see foreigners around these times, he mused silently to himself with an unusual feeling creeping up his spine. His senses were tingling mysteriously.

Something was bound to happen.

The person in question was female, with long dark, wavy hair and green eyes. Her face was exotic to the already exotic looking red headed teenager, her features sharp and elegant contrasting to the soft looking appearance of most Land of Fire people. There was a sharp, peculiar scar on her forehead.

Uzumaki Shinaku wondered what the immigrant in question wanted in his village, but didn't dare open his mouth to ask – leaving that task to his teammate Uchiha Mikoto, who was honestly better at the interrogate people part of their job (manning the gates, that is, because young, inexperienced chunin recently promoted who possessed valued bloodlines were less likely to be sent out the battlefields when there were more powerful, expendable shinobi around – Mikoto's bitter's words after a cup of sake, not Shinaku's).

Downside?

Minako (secretly the target of all his waking fantasies), being the genius that she is, is out there really making a difference – and no, Shinaku did _not_ have a crush on the blonde. Just because she seemed so mature and accomplished and cute with her short spiky blonde hair...

Though the redhead was as far from weak as possible, he didn't think Kumo would pass a chance for a free grab if Shinaku was sent out so soon after gaining his much earned promotion, and this time there was more than Uzumaki genes in stock since granny Mito kicked the bucket and passed forth her burden to the next in line, Shinaku-ouji (he was the prince of a fallen people, but a prince nonetheless).

The red head had his seals and Uzu techniques to fall back on, but Minako also had seals, and she was a Ninjutsu master… sighing, Shinaku's back curved slightly as his mood took a pitfall.

The blonde seemed leagues and leagues away from his reach.

"What's wrong?" A voice called out making the red head raise his eyes again – Mikoto was staring in bemusement at him while the foreigner (apparently meeting Mikoto's aproval seal) had this worried look in her far too green eyes.

And suddenly Shinaku realized what his down look might mean to the foreigner – maybe he found something untoward in her papers and she was worried.

"Nothing to do with you" He replied rather rudely in a curt sharp voice, if Mikoto's sharp jab to his ribs were any indication. "Now move along, you're blocking the line, ' _tebane_ "… The older looking girl blinked back as if stunned, before nodding resolutely and marching off into the village with nary a look back.

Mikoto gave another sharp jab at his side and he ignored blissfully the cunningly thoughtful look that took over her features.

…

Part: The Third.  
 _Guilt_

"What was that for?" Mikoto asked her old teammate, having known him the longest since the academy days, she was quite perceptive toward his moods "She seemed genuinely worried about you, it's hard to find nice people around nawadays" she said with a pointed look, hoping to wheedle Shinaku about his behavior.

It was an amusing part of him at certain points in their life – like his awkwardness when dealing with Namikaze Minako – Mikoto honestly never got bored of teasing him about the blonde jounin.

"Nothing" The red head teenager answered too quickly, but his shoulders dropped an inch as if he reached an unvoiced decision. He looked regretful enough at having blown up to a stranger right in front of their village gates "If I find her later on I'll apologize, how does that sound?" He proposed, and Mikoto nodded her agreement before grinning minutely again, absently going through the line of people in front of them – lots of returning teams from the borders patrols and some intelligence gathering that went through right away, leaving a gaggle of merchants who didn't look too eager to dispense their products with post war-time tax…

Konoha was still handling things better than Suna though, so they better behave (Konoha had to rebuild somehow after all, and with how things were going, they'd reach peak condition despite the loss of Uzu).

"I think it sounds as if someone is bitter about something" The Uchiha clan member spoke after a moment or two of working in silence "Is it about that Namikaze girl?" she hit the nail smack on the head, if the minute tension in her red haired friend's neck was any valid clue.

Shinaku shook his head, he really shouldn't have done that because now the shorter strands of hair that framed his face escaped from the bun he put his ridiculously long hair up on. "No…"

Mikoto's nose twitched as she stared at him with a raised eyebrow and an inquisitive, unholy glint in her dark eyes.

Her teammate had a really horrible time in the academy, she remembered with fond nostalgic sadism.

He was teased and bullied about the color of his hair and the chubbiness of his cheeks – gaining the unflattering moniker of 'Tomato Boy' through those times, and funnily enough, girls were the ones who teased him the most… And since he was a nice boy Shinaku disliked hitting girls (The boys stopped teasing soon enough after he gained the secondary moniker of Habanero).

The only one who didn't get on his case was Minako, who focused more on her studies than petty schoolyard bullying. Mikoto agreed with the blonde to certain points, but Shinaku's purpling face when he felt hopeless anger at being teased about his hair was just _priceless_.

She had to have received some amusement from _somewhere_ in that drab academy setting – she'd never claimed to be virtuous to anyone (nor does she deny it!).

"Because if my betrothal to Fugaku is not approved, I'm willing to marry you to save your honor since you seem incapable of handling women" Scarred to life, more like it, not gynophobic enough to be _scared_ of girls, but enough, Mikoto wondered…

Unless you were blonde and named Minako…

The Uchiha realized then that what she said was true, even if the clan never allowed it, she'd marry Shinaku if given the chance (and Fugaku died of sudden and irreversible causes). There was a good man buried in all that temper and plus, he was lots of fun to hang out with.

"You don't know what you're talking about. I can be a ladies' man if I want to _datebane_!" He was close to a pout as she ever saw him, so Mikoto sprung the guilt-trip-trap she's set him on the path to with merciless intent.

Her voice was candy sweet so Shinaku's comical horrified face. "Then you should want to be more gentlemanly to the foreigner merchants from now on, the one you just were inexcusably rude with could be bearing missions for all we know and you just scared her off" He was weary of females, but that was no excuse to being rude to one and skirting part of his duties to his village.

(He was wearing his chunin flak jacket, so he was a village representative while on duty… and Mikoto was feeling a bit of empathy toward a fellow girl who got a taste of Shinaku's less than stellar temper).

"I didn't scare her off!" … "And she was not carrying any mission. She seems to be one of those who want to settle down" He pointed out thinking he had a real argument. Mikoto knew him better.

So she quirked up her lips and sang out.

"D-ranks".

To which he masterfully answered.

"Shut up…"

…

Part: The Fourth.  
 _Resolution_

She was right.

Shinaku knew.

Mikoto was right about getting on his case this time.

And he did feel slightly guilty.

Thanks to Mikoto too… not because he might have insulted someone, but because he might have tarnished the image of his village or cost it something… though he didn't think the foreigner green eyed girl would take so much offense at his blunder that she'd skip villages and go settle in Iwa.

But just to be sure, as soon as his gate-keeper duties were fulfilled and the (poor, poor sods, gate duty was _boring_ ) replacement team arrived for wall patrol while the gates were closed, Shinaku legged as quickly as he could to the Hokage tower. He had some papers to check, and if the green eyed girl was as bent on staying in Konoha as Mikoto seemed adamant to think, then she'd already have her papers in the archive.

Shinaku went through the trouble of enduring the tower secretaries, wasting a whole hour from his life for said paperwork (T&I teams were after some old case files and were making a ruckus, clogging the wait line), only to remember with a wince, as soon as his hand touched the day's archive box that he didn't know the girl's name at all.

Well, he'd just wing it then. No use in hunting down Mikoto only to have her laugh her skinny Uchiha ass off at him in glee. Not really. Uchiha didn't act like that unless they were born normal, as it was the whole lot of them were deranged as a rule. (Pretending to be all serious and stoic, when in reality they all secretly laughed behind everyone's backs).

Anyway.

Thankfully identification papers have pictures, Shinaku was certain he would be able to recognize those green eyes easily enough.

A pile of useless papers and three paper cuts on two different fingers later, the red head teenager held up victoriously his prize. The white slip of paper looked unassuming, but Shinaku gained a whole lot of respect for the paper-work ninjas (AKA genin corps).

Time to open the file.

First and foremost, Mikoto's big, glaring, red APROVED stamp smack on top of everything. For a literal 'unknown' to be approved by the gate guards like this would take the person being high profile enough to warrant some leeway, or just being hopelessly helpless.

Scanning down some more, Shinaku found Mikoto's note for the Investigation team who'd take on the girl's case – ' _Individual has no notable chakra and no significant muscle mass. Most likely minor run away noble or rich merchant wife or daughter. Presence of notable scarring on forehead as identifying feature'_ – Next to a picture he easily recognized. Those green eyes of hers peered at him from the paper too judgingly.

Under those was a name.

Only one was given… Dorea.

Dorea… _Dorea_ … No, no idea what it could mean.

Maybe it one of those fancy cinema names… It sounded more like a war-cry than a name that's for sure. No Last Name gave Mikoto's theory of a runaway more credit though, plenty of war orphans were left with no name like Orochimaru-sama or even Jiraiya-sama so it wasn't exactly suspicious.

And under that was what Shinaku wanted. The address to the hotel she gave administration. The council had a sheet of available apartments or houses for rent, and she should have received one with the welcoming package paperwork, though Shinaku believed she hadn't looked it into it yet (no one decides their address in a day given the chance!) and would likely be in her hotel room or Uzu forbid, exploring the village.

Anyway, he had her hotel address and a name.

Time to stalk- hunt some more.

Part: The Fifth  
 _Confrontation_

"I'd like one Dorea's room number" Then, as if an afterthought, he added. "Please" while glaring down the annoying woman who occupied the role of receptionist. The moment she sighed despondently at his entrance was the moment he forgot all respect he was supposed to show.

To give credit to the receptionist, she only glanced at his hitae-ate once before scowling up at him the way only people who grew up in ninja villages did (civilians bred in ninja villages had bigger balls, by default, to deal with scary ninjas in general) – though she knew better than to deny him since it _could_ be official Konoha business.

It wasn't.

But Shinaku would not be telling – read nametag – Kimi-san that. Let the bint be annoyed _and_ feel helpless at his stunning presence.

She was obliged to divulge information even if she _really_ didn't want to. "Room 404, and no rowdy business afterhours!" Kimi-san said, glaring at his back as he skipped stairs altogether and traveled through the outside walls to the 4rth floor. He was still wondering what 'rowdy business' she meant when he reached door 404.

Now… Shinaku had rehearsed mentally and very briefly about how he'd go about this. He'd apologize for his perceived rudeness, give the excuse of huge workloads for his short temper and offer compensation.

A _small_ compensation.

Mikoto installed very early on the value of given word and he should tack on limits to it. Mikoto was one scary cunning bitch and has caught him in word games more than once.

Raising his hand, Shinaku knocked.

Nothing happened.

Well then, more knocks followed, growing obnoxiously louder and angrier in comparison to his temper that grew perilously shorter and shorter – he was there to apologize damnit! She should prostate herself in a humbling position while he went through his glorious apologies and – no, he just didn't go over an egocentric mind rant again…

Granny Mito beat that out of him years ago. ' _You're a prince, act like it! One day you will be responsible for reviving the Uzumaki-clan'_ Apparently only Uzumaki females were allowed to be… _spirited_ … If he read clan records right, Uzumaki males were usually more restrained.

He was about to make a very profound suggestion of just where the clan records could shove themselves when something in the situation changed.

The door opened without any warnings.

And a very annoyed, very wet and very scantily clad Dorea opened the door. _Ops._ Was his first thought, then _that water droplet better stop descending before it – too late, it nestled between her breasts and was that how a bust looks like-_ Stop it!

And then he was blushing madly and wishing he had more patience.

But oh, water under the bridge now, wasn't it? Literally. If bridge were a pair of- STOP IT!

So Shinaku smiled candidly as if nothing was wrong in the world, ignoring that for the second time that day he might have possibly offended the girl (not that females deserved his respect anyway, besides Minako-chan) and said in a controlled voice. "My name is Uzumaki Shinaku and you will accept my apologies _tebane!_ And don't go moving to Iwa because I might have offended you. If you do, I will never hear the end of it"

"What are you talking about?" Dorea's forehead crinkled in thought. Her face was quite expressive, Shinaku noticed. Actually, all of her body was expressive and _totally not going there right now…_ "Oh… that, I even forgot about it, but since you're asking, no way" She finished, motioning him away with one of her hands already halfway to closing the door on his face.

That wouldn't do.

Time for plan B (In which should be attempted in case plan A, plain apology, failed).

"What!? Accept my apologies already woman" Shinaku might not be the most muscled looking ninja around (that titled belongs to Konoha's very own green, eyebrow weirdo Maito Gai), but one, he was male, and two, he was shinobi, so he easily extended an arm and overpowered her attempts at closing the door "I'm willing on giving compensation" He spoke quickly when Dorea's green eyes turned thunderous "A small compensation" Shinaku added just as quickly, and predicting she would deny yet again, he continued without letting her speak back "I know, let me pay you dinner and show you the best restaurant in Konoha _tebane!"_

Desperate times asked for desperate measures. _And that is one short towel…_

He was willing to desecrate the sanctity of his favorite Ramen stand with a girl if it meant getting out of this mess (Ichiraku-oji-san's wife was actually alright, and little baby Ayame was not old enough to be considered a girl yet). And that wasn't the towel or the water droplet or his hormones talking.

Shinaku lashed out with a hand and grabbed Dorea's own when her nose scrunched cutely and she renewed her efforts to close the door on his face. She spluttered indignantly at being manhandled and cried out "I'm still naked!" And to said fact Shinaku was made acutely aware when his force's moment pulled Dorea so close to him his own clothes got damp by the moisture still clinging to her.

He couldn't release her quickly enough. "Oh… right. Go change then, we don't have all night _tebane_ " The girl stood there stunned for a moment, just staring at him as if he was an alien and she couldn't figure him out. But in the end she was possibly hungry enough to agree to his half-baked apology and agreed.

"Fine, it seems you won't go away without having your way. Wait a moment" The scent of her shampoo was clinging to his clothes now. Shinaku winced… this was the closest he's been to a female since well… since granny Mito – not even Mikoto got so close (aside from training, but then they both smelled of sweat and dirt, and not of some fruity, honeyed nonsense that was doing horrible things to his nose glands), hell, he'd not even managed to get so close to Minako-chan yet!

Darn Karma was messing with Shinaku again.

But that was one damn small towel.

…

Part: The Sixth  
 _Thought_

Dorea landed in this time-line with no thought beside helping the main characters make this one version a success.

It was doomed to fail from the start for the simple fact that the second Kyuubi Jinchuriki, who was supposed to be female, was born male – the seal that held Kyuubi to the Uzumaki in question's belly was not weakened by childbirth (the one birthing would be his wife, Namikaze Minako) and though the mother still died in childbirth, the babe would grow with their father and not know half as much hardship as was necessary to make a good hero (norms of fate for almost all true heroes scattered around the multiverse… main requirement was a shitty childhood and being an orphan).

The people of this time-line would still valiantly fight back behind the Hero, and there was a small chance that Shinaku would sacrifice himself to give his child the edge of Kyuubi – in which case there was a volatile high chance that the child would end up joining the bad guys out of bitterness for his father's death.

At any case, the time-line had no chance of surviving and was doomed for fail if not for one small, itsy bitty detail: It now housed Dorea.

Oh, it took a while to decide too.

Her criteria kept changing.

But in the end, since she only got one chance to pick a new home for herself, Dorea chose something that would allow her to make a difference…

She had no idea of how she'd go about it (not being privy to _everything_ that happened, only fixed events), and though her magic had stabilized from the power overload and was back to normal witch standard, she would do her very best.

One such fixed point in time she's been keeping an eye on was the horrible manglement of one Uchiha Obito (not necessarily male in all time-lines, but in this one Obito was a he) – the accident led him to be given on a platter to his ancestor, Uchiha Madara, who would manipulate the boy until he broke upon the death of the love of his life (either Nohara Rin(Ran) or Hakake Kakashi (Kakashiko)). Obito giving an eye to his male/female frienemy was also part of the fixed point since the eye would help tide things in the following 4th Shinobi World War in the future.

Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin were still seven years old kids who were still at the academy. Kakashi (male) had recently graduated and was apprenticed to Namikaze Minako. Dorea thought she'd find a way to make the boys closer, so they would have deeper ties by the time the fixed point came to pass – to do so, she had to get closer to either the children or Minako.

So when Shinaku presented the opportunity to her quite conveniently, Dorea pounced.

There was only one thing she wasn't counting on.

Her one weakness acting up.

One thing she had in common with her father.

Long haired red heads.

Uzumaki Shinaku had the typical red hair. Only his was long, reaching down his waist… It was a blatant show of skill – only powerful ninjas kept long hair because it could be used as a hold – his face was round and somewhat delicate, though he had high cheekbones and a strong defiant jaw coupled with a pair of dark green eyes.

Shinaku reminded Dorea strongly of Charlie Weasley, though the shinobi didn't wear accessories like Charlie, he was still a bit forceful and bashful. Charlie Weasley was her first crush ever – she'd embarrass herself by following him around like a puppy whenever he went to visit to Ginny's giggling amusement. (They'd gush over boys together enough times over Hermione's magazines by then).

Then there was sweet Dave Bones, nephew of Amelia Bones. Dorea went through her first heartbreak when she finally had the guts to invite him to the TriWizard tournament Yule Ball and discovered that the red head boy was already in a relationship with Hannah Abbot.

None of that mattered of course, taking out the bit about Shinaku.

Dorea really didn't anticipate her heart beat rate when it he showed up at her door and insulted, manhandled and invited her to dinner all in the spam of minutes (It seems she also inherited her mother's weakness for brash males). She had a rough plan that needed following, and in that plan the part that Shinaku married Minako was fact.

So Dorea breathed out her shock and resigned herself to a couple of years of frustration… unless she found another Uzumaki lost somewhere.

She better start preparing contingency plans, just in case.

…

TBC~


	3. Chapter 3

Gen Summary: Dorea picks Naruto world to fall into, tries to seamlessly ingrate herself in Konoha and end causing trouble. The good sort.  
Warnings: Kiss cannon goodbye. Fem!Minato and male!Kushina. Mentions of genderbent HP characters like Susan Bones (who is now Dave Bones). Shifting POVs. Dorea/male!Kushina (because why the heck not?). Meddling Mikoto.

Notes: This was made purely to help me grasp conversation flows… I suck at those, so if you have any pointers, feel free to add!

Intro

 **Red Heads**

 _ **A little what if story.**_

 _Or the story in which Namikaze Minato is actually Namikaze Minako and Uzumaki Kushina is actually Uzumaki Shinaku and he meets Dorea Potter who is addicted to red heads._

Part: The Seventh  
 _Date_

Dorea slipped out of her hotel room dressed in a simple orange dress that had a cute bow on the back and daisy yellow neckline – not that Shinaku noticed. He did notice that once her hair was drier, it had strands of red that intertwined between black and brown locks – he noticed that because he had to be leaning against the door when she opened it, so Dorea got a good face full of sweaty chunin vest.

Disengaging once more from the green eyed girl, Shinaku forced himself to ignore the fresh scent teasing his nose and to grab onto her arms again, this time to pick her light weight up to carry her to their destination.

"If I fall and break something, I will break your nose!" Dorea screamed as she clutched tightly to his vest. Shinaku, trying to keep her as far as possible from himself, was carrying the poor girl at arms' length.

The red head winced, but felt bad enough that he was scaring her – it wasn't fair to Dorea he realized, so he pulled her body closer and tucked her head against his neck – all the while cringing and praying no one saw him like this and wishing the warm, tickling breath against his sensitive skin was not there.

He landed a couple of roof jumps later in front of an unassuming food stand, depositing his cargo on unsteady legs with a huge gush of air in relief.

Magnanimously allowing the shorter girl to use his arm to balance herself (It was so horribly blatant that she was no ninja, that Shinaku's guilt grew at his rough treatment of her) "And this is the place that serves the best Ramen in all the Elemental Nations, _tebane!"_ He announced instead of apologizing a second time, already pulling Dorea into the stand and sitting her in front of Ichiraku-oba-chan who was minding the clients.

"You're making me blush, Uzumaki-kun" The older woman heard him and grinned behind a hand, putting down her ladle and picking up a notebook and pen combo "What will you and your friend be ordering tonight?"

Shinaku grinned brightly back, sitting himself with a flourish "The usual for me _tebane_!" he told the ramen stand lady (the only woman beside Mikoto and Minako who he could agree with – forcefully in Mikoto's case, but _still_ ).

"What about the young lady?" Shinaku turned his head slightly to watch Dorea. Her parlor was still a bit pale, but she had a bright flush up her cheeks from their small adventure through rooftops at ninja speed. For some reason, that made his palm sweaty and his stomach tight into a ball - her wide eyed flushed face sent tingles down his spine for some reason he wasn't ready to acknowledge yet.

"I will have whatever Uzumaki-san is having" Dorea answered, observing him back once she noticed his eyes on her. Shinaku's eyebrow went up in surprise and mirth. "What?" Dorea asked bemusedly when she noticed a couple of curious stares on her.

"Uzumaki-kun's usual is an extra large bowl of miso ramen, is that alright with you?" Ichiraku-ba-chan spoke to the green eyed girl, giving Shinaku a meaningful look from under her lashes. She seemed to be implying something that he was only too willing to ignore.

"Oh, yes, it's fine" The girl he kidnap- invited out from her hotel room told them, tilting her head in adorable confusion.

His heart skipped a beat like one of those corny characters in romance books.

Shinaku couldn't keep his mouth shut as he grew warmer by the second. "If you can't eat it all and ager the ramen gods by wasting ramen, I'm not paying for you _tebane_!" Mostly because she was a _girl_ and was making him uncomfortable… He didn't have this amount of trouble with Minako.

The blonde always asked for the smallest potion available. (Mikoto told him that Minako didn't believe ramen to be very healthy, Lies, Shinaku knew, Lies spun by Mikoto to demoralize his crush)

"Don't worry… and I can pay for myself" Huffed his now annoyed guest to his actual consternation. He was here trying to be nice and she was snubbing him!

"No, this is my apology!" He told her seriously, graciously accepting the family sized bowl of steaming miso ramen being offered to him by an amused Ichiraku-ba-chan "Now shut up and enjoy the ramen, and you better lick the bowl clean" Was his order when Dorea also received a bowl.

They spent the next few minutes slurping their ramen in silence, concentrating on the food and not on the awkwardness between them. It was fine by the red head, this batch of noodles was particularly delicious.

"Oh hello dear, I see Uzumaki-kun is here!" Shinaku's eyes rose from his divine food to focus on the newcomer behind the counter.

Ichiraku-ji-chan smiled brightly at his best customer and the red head enthusiastically returned the gesture, glad for the small distraction "Hey Ichiraku-ji-chan!"

"Oho… I see you have a date tonight!" The mean, _mean_ old man then grinned, showing vast amounts of teeth as soon as his eyes met Dorea's figure, who was sitting dangerously close to Shinaku and sharing his personal space.

Even the ramen stand owners knew of Shinaku's slight aversion to females.

"N-no! It's not a date! It's a debt being paid, an apology being made, good ramen being eaten, not a date _tebane!"_ He denied post haste. Dorea raised her face from her own bowl of Ramen to look at him with something _sharp_ behind her eyes. He resisted the urge to gulp.

"Whatever you say Uzumaki-kun, just don't let the young lady return to her home by herself, be a gentleman" was the piece of wisdom passed to Shinaku, along with a conspicuous eye wink.

Funny. There was this weird fluttery feeling around his stomach that made eating more than one bowl of Ramen impossible.

He blamed Dorea and the fetching way she looked in orange.

…

Part: The Eight  
 _Acceptation_

"Tonight was moderately weird, a bit confusing and painful, but I actually had fun" Dorea said to Shinaku with as much honesty as she could imbue into her voice. If Shinaku observed rightly, she was speaking the truth! He didn't know he had it in him to entertain female company without copious amount of mind (and voice) filters, but it should be good training for when he dated Minako-chan. "So thank you for taking me out, you're forgiven" The green eyed foreigner allowed gracefully, tentatively smiling up at him and staring with those huge eyes of hers.

Guh, his heart picked up pace again, so Shinaku scowled down at her in retaliation.

"Don't get used to it _tebane!_ This was the one and only time I'm doing this with you!" He ended up the walk between the stairway and the hallway that led to door 404.

Dorea was escorted back to her room just like Ichiraku-ji-chan suggested, though Shinaku was sure the older man had something untoward in his mind when he even suggested such a thing. For some reason the word _rowdy_ came back into his mind and he mentally tensed.

The red head had a valiant mind filter when he wanted to be oblivious. He put that part of him to work right away.

"Alright then, see you around Uzumaki-san" The girl had the nerve to shrug impassively. Shinaku felt oddly affected by that, as if she was not as interested in him as he thought she was. Not that he wanted her interested in him!

His saintly savior, love of his live Minako-chan was the only girl who understood him and the only girl he wanted or needed.

' _You have beautiful hair, don't cut it just because those girls tease you'_ Minako-chan's voice echoed in his head – that day was an spectacularly horrible one. Granny Mito was telling him about her husband, the shodaime, and how powerful shinobi of that time had long hair. Shinaku decided to grow out his hair, but had to face a lot of opposition in the academy. ' _I really like the color red'_ Minako had smiled, that bright innocent smile of hers and Shinaku was snared.

Just like that.

But something about Dorea bugged him greatly.

Her sudden indifference hurt.

Shinaku was not one to take offence quietly (When the girls teased him in the academy, he'd grow angry but restrained himself from outright violent revenge, didn't mean he wasn't impulsive though, he'd prank them relentlessly back).

"Wait!" He called out when Dorea got bored of staring at his face and was about to close her Hotel room door in a very familiar setting – almost like a déjà-vu. Shinaku couldn't allow that. He won't allow her to dismiss him when he wasn't ready to dismiss her!

"What is it?" Her face was as expressive as ever, showing a great deal of bemused confusion in the way her lips pouted.

 _Flutter_ ing went his belly.

Cleaning his throat, Shinaku started "Look, I know I was not pleasant, and my apology sucked, but I was wondering if you'd like me to show you around Konoha sometime… I know how tough it can be when you're a newcomer" Mikoto would be probably proud of him for this gentle gesture (Or she might just remind him that the idea was hers to begin with)… And he truly wished to keep in Dorea's company.

She hasn't said a word about his hair so far even though he's been kind of a jerk to her. There something about her that intrigued him – like a fox with a puzzle.

Dorea was showing a very large, very deep pool of patience with him, more so than Mikoto on a good day – the Uchiha girl did not take his bullshit even when dishing some of her own, they worked perfectly as teammates like that.

(Unknown to him, Dorea has vast experience dealing with moody Red Heads or jerks in general. Ron could be awfully snappish given certain occasions and Draco Malfoy was a fixture in her earlier life she couldn't shake off).

The green eyed girl tilted her head in that curious way and stared up at him as if she could read his honesty on his face. Her eyes seemed even larger than usual, Shinaku noticed, and sparkled from within.

Finally, she took pity on him and announced slowly and with a lovely little blush coloring her cheeks a cherry red color "That would actually be lovely" her words were honest, he felt with some awe "I only know the landmarks by name, and got lost twice trying to find this hotel" She admitted, blush spreading and eyes shining.

Once more Shinaku felt that lurch in his chest that indicated a higher heart rate.

"Right…" _Right_. Shinaku had to expel a great amount of effort not to stammer. Girls were despicable beings who made his childhood a living nightmare (Mikoto included) and aside from Minako, who saved his life and appreciated his hair, he never felt this moved by a girl's eyes before. "Right... be ready tomorrow at five" He ordered, making his escape before he could fall into Dorea even more.

Part: The Ninth  
 _Jealousy_

"Oh, hello Uzumaki-kun" Minako greeted, smiling a small, peaceful smile at her old classmate and now shinobi colleague.

Uzumaki Shinaku.

Minako felt oddly attracted to the bumbling red head. He had a different sense of humor and never failed to make her giggle at his antics (and pranks, not that she'd let anyone know she laughed at his pranks – those ridiculous girls who teased him mercilessly should give more focus to their career, thus they deserved all retribution they got for distracting themselves with petty motives).

Shinaku had this weird magnetic aura that compelled Minako in some ways and attracted her in equal measures.

She didn't know how deep her feelings for the Uzumaki she saved once from kidnapping were, but they were there, that she knew and acknowledged enough to deviate from her current plans to include him, even if Kakashi-kun felt a bit cheated.

He was cute like that.

"M-minako-chan!" Shinaku greeted back, his face morphing into a dazzling smile that made her mood better just by existing, such a breath of fresh air! His deep green eyes bore into hers, and Minako was only distracted away from him when Kakashi-kun pointedly bumped into her sides with a muted grumble.

With half a grin, the blonde jonin pushed Kakashi forward, presenting him quite like a proud parent would a specifically gifted child, to Shinaku. Who had the manners to at least fake brief interest in the midget by her side.

Minako ignored this with practiced ease and continued the introductions because she felt proud of being a sensei already (and Kakashi desperately needed the guidance and adult supervision) "Have you met my new apprentice yet? This is Hatake Kakashi, Kakashi-kun, this is an old friend of mine from the academy, Uzumaki Shinaku-san"

"No" Shinaku grumbled, but tried to hide it quickly behind a sneer of derision that must have gotten deep into Kakashi's ego, to the red head's hidden glee. "I don't see why you have to tot the brat around Konoha though, if he has a headband I'm sure he knows his way around the village" Ouch. Shinaku was showing his claws.

The blond grinned and poked Kakashi's back when she felt the silver haired child shift slightly as if to reach a kunai. That wouldn't do, she had to teach her pupil some patience, and constant interactions with the red head chunin might just do it. "We're just browsing the weapon shops. Kakashi-kun needs a new blunt weapon for training" She explained, hoping to avoid the clash between Kakashi and Shinaku but also looking at the bright side. Both possessive and both hardheaded (It was endearing and Shinaku's apparent jealousy of a seven years old made her feel somewhat warm) "You… would you like to shop with us?" she invited in a moment of impulsiveness, thinking Shinaku would jump at the chance to spent more time with her.

His crush was _so_ not a secret.

Minako smiled internally, flattered since she's never put much account on her feminine side to warrant male attention but accepting that her past actions toward Shinaku made him weak toward _her_.

"R-really?" The red head stuttered, wide eyes hopeful.

Only until Kakashi glared though "Do we have to take him along sensei?" her little apprentice growled out from behind his mask "He might hurt himself so close to pointy objects" (alluding they were going to the weapon shop). Before Minako could excuse her little minion's attitude, Shinaku was dishing back.

"No one asked you, brat!" Kakashi, as expected, bristled at the redhead's rebuke. He detested being called a child or any variants of it – he worked hard for his headband, ant that made him an adult.

"Uzumaki-san!" A surprisingly soft feminine voice called out from the throng of people, making Shinaku jump a bit and the deer-caught-in-the-head-light face he pulled off told of how he knew that voice. Kakashi cocked his head and Minako had to badly repress that urge.

It soon became so painfully obvious who the voice belonged to when a lean dark haired, green eyed girl slid seamlessly to Shinaku's left, eyeing them from behind thick lashes and a beautiful exotic face.

That made a feeling of odd inadequacy swell in Minako's chest. She's never been that feminine or that cute since she spent of her time focusing on her career and not looks – but suddenly she needed to be girly. Mysteriously so.

The blond haired jonin forced a grin… she kind of liked Shinaku a little, and if she's read him right, he liked her too… so what was the meaning of this other girl clinging to his arm?

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you had company already. You don't have to come if you don't want to, or you can ask your friend if she wants to come as well" Better thread carefully and gather information before acting, Minako told herself, hoping Kakashi went along with her.

Shinaku would agree, the blonde hoped, by the star struck glint in his eyes when he saw her, he still cared enough about her to come with even if he had another girl to his arm. Some part of her felt sorry for the slight civilian girl who was looking at Minako with something deep within the pools of green that made her eyes.

"Eheh… Minako-chan, this is Dorea, she's recently moved to Konoha and I'm showing her around. Dorea, this is Minako-chan and her apprentice, Bakakashi" Shinaku introduced hastily, doing his best not to appear to awkward.

Cute.

But it still sliced a bit at her chest when Minako noticed he didn't use any honorifics with Dorea- _san_ 's name.

"It's Kakashi!" Her apprentice continued to glare, though Dorea's eyes were now on him brimming with curiosity. It must be exquisite seeing a child shinobi around anymore despite the war going on, the jonin imagined, Kakashi was quite the exception to the rule since he was an incomparable genius.

"Right, Dorea! She's invited us to look around with her, would you mind?" Spoke Shinaku softly to his lady friend. He was being quite out-of-character-ly polite with the girl. She looked so small and helpless, doe eyed and rouge cheeked.

Another stab went through Minako's chest. Shinaku sometimes seemed incapable of being polite to girls who he didn't respect. That he respected Dorea enough to be polite to her meant…

"Not at all" was the answer the foreigner gave, smiling up at Shinaku with sparkles practically exploding out of her teeth. "I'm glad I can meet a friend of yours" she smiled too at Minako, seemingly honestly glad to have met her.

All in all, Minako found herself surprised at the fact that she could not trully dislike the younger looking girl. She was unfailingly polite and took great interest in Minako – asking questions about her studies and not pressing when the blond told her it was personal or a secret. Dorea was genuinely interested in getting to know Minako, which must be one of the reasons Shinaku was civil to the girl.

The worse part of all day?

She wouldn't be able to begrudge Dorea if Shinaku chose her instead.

But Minako was _not_ about to give up. It wasn't part of her Nindo.

Part: The Tenth.  
 _Advice_

They were sitting in an insipid looking tea-house his friend liked to visit sometime to trade gossip. He had absolutely no idea why she dragged him along… It's as if the infuriating Uchiha woman forgot he had dangly bits most of the times.

"… and then we kissed and it was the best kiss I've ever had" Mikoto ended her tale with a far-away look in her eyes.

Shinaku rolled his in answer. "And you assume I want to know about your annoying love life because…?" His old teammate's (friend?) engagement to the clan head (the supposedly love of her life) has been approved by the clan Elders pending a nuptial meeting between their families.

Mikoto was over the moon.

She's been pining after the handsome Uchiha for quite a while now to the red head's great chagrin – she often dragged him into these kind of off-topic conversations that she should be having with a _female_ friend.

The Uchiha chunin gave him a long flat look, as if he was the dimmest dork around Konoha that she's ever set eyes on.

"You know, I told you all about my dates to Fugaku, and about my struggles to have his family agree to welcome me… and here you are, tight lipped and _not telling me about your own dates_ " She hissed the last part, making a shiver run down his back. "Come on, you can tell me, after all I'm the relationship godmother"

Shinaku didn't even pretend to understand what she was talking about. But he did sputter nervously when what she said finally clicked. "I'm not dating Dorea ' _tebane!"_

"Funny how you assume it's Dorea-chan I'm talking about" Mikoto expertly tossed his earlier words right back at him. She was having ungodly amounts of fun, Shinaku realized. But it did work to shake something inside of him "I could just as easily be meaning Minako-chan… my my, Shinaku, having two girlfriends when I labored to get my one!" her words were teasing, but said in the least amount of jest she was capable of.

The evil, dark hearted bitch had the gal to smirk tauntingly.

Shinaku scowled at his friend.

"Enough about this! I'm not dating anyone, and I like Minako-chan _datebane!_ " He gnarled between clenched teeth sounding horribly petulant. Mikoto's face then turned serious, making Shinaku's eyes widen at the sudden change of humor.

"Either Dorea or Minako, you can't string both of them along" His oldest friend said, making his chest fill with some unknown emotion that he couldn't describe. "Both of them like you, you know? For some reason I can't explain, they care for you… so just pick one and stop being a cad!" The seriousness was gone from her mien, but Mikoto didn't need to appear serious to be taken as such.

"I don't like Dorea like that _tebane!"_ Shinaku repeated, tasting ash in his tongue. His heart lurched painfully and he could scarcely believe how it was reacting.

Dorea has only been in the village for a couple of months (finally renting an apartment of her own and getting a job in a shop), and though he reluctantly kept to his word at first, by taking her all around Konoha, recently these outings have become genuinely _fun_.

He simply liked having her around.

Dorea was easy to deal with since she had so much patience – which was a pre-requisite to dealing with Uzumaki people in general (It used to be a clause in old marriage contracts, actually, it went _that far_ ) – And didn't let him trample all over her at the same time. She allowed him to be himself without taking insult to his sometimes brash nature.

"Then why do you look as if you just sucked a lemon?" Mikoto burst his angst bubble by poking his cheek with the tip of a really sharp nail.

"I dunno what you're talking about" Shinaku denied, trying not to stare into his friend's eyes. At Mikoto's second flat look (the third ended being far more painful if she reached the far end of her wits with him) fell upon the redhead. He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up at the sign of danger.

He met her eyes.

They traded looks.

Shinaku looked away first.

"Alright… IkindoflikeDoreatoo" He mumbled, nearly puffing out his cheeks. "But Minako-chan… she's just… she's like the sky you know? She makes me feel safe and her smiles make me happy. I've liked her since the academy because she's never made fun of me and was really nice… And she said my hair's pretty" He finished with an absent pat down his long red mane. Blood colored strands spilling through his fingers.

"And what about Dorea?" Mikoto inquired softly, aware that this was a delicate subject she half-bullied Shinaku into. She just wanted to help him, he knew, so he'd let her in his woes with the hope that she'd have some of those mystical feminine insights.

"Dorea… she's not a shinobi – she's soft and welcoming. When I'm with her I just want to impress her, make her notice me but at the same time I think I fear her a little" Shinaku finished with an embarrassed blush staining his cheeks. Mikoto hid a grin behind her hand before catching her friend's finger in her own.

"Like night and day?" She asked, definitely finding amusement in his (troublesome) love life. Shinaku nodded to her comment though. "Do you want to hear what I think?" It was nice of her to ask… she usually just spoke what was going on in her mind not caring a bit about what he, himself, thought.

"That's why I'm telling you _tebane!"_ His voice sounded exasperated, he was sure he was displaying some emotional distress to his chagrin. "You're like, the one who knows me best, I trust you" The admittance made him feel lighter though.

Mikoto squeezed the hand she had caught on, obviously moved. "Minako represents _safety._ Dorea the unknown. Minako's dreams are large, she wants to be Hokage-" Shinaku winced slightly, that was _his_ dream! "- and she's an accomplished kunoichi. She'd make a good partner for you, you'd be comfortable, happy even, since you don't care she's more powerful than you"

His friend pointed this out as if he hasn't spent many a night wide awake picturing how his life with Minako-chan would turn out. His teammate was right.

He didn't mind that Minako was only _slightly_ more powerful than he was. He was a sealsmaster, and was nothing to scoff at ninjutsu and taijutsu. Plus the Kyuubi power boost and his Uzumaki lineage.

But Minako was a genius at Ninjutsu (already developing her own jutsus), tactics and varied ninja arts. The blond was a hard worker, brilliant kunoichi that was already being compared to Tsunade-hime… Last Shinaku knew of Minako's exploits, she's been entrusted with the Second Hokage's Forbidden Scroll of jutsu by way of her own old sensei, Jiraiya-sama.

For the sake of not admitting his own shortcomings, Shinaku vehemently denied "No _way_ "

His friend ignored him.

"Dorea is new. You don't know her as well as you know Minako, but you like what you've seen so far. She's level headed and calm, and perhaps equally important is the fact she's a civilian woman. She won't always understand your shinobi career, but she will be there for you whenever you need her… She will make an equally good partner for you" Mikoto continued with her analysis. "Think about what you want the most, what each girl can give you and what you can give each of them, then decide who you want"

The red head sat there on his stool, looking at his friend while she calmly sipped tea, wondering just when Mikoto grew up.

...

TBC~


	4. Chapter 4

Gen Summary: Dorea picks Naruto world to fall into, tries to seamlessly ingrate herself in Konoha and end causing trouble. The good sort.  
Warnings: Kiss cannon goodbye. Fem!Minato and male!Kushina. Mentions of genderbent HP characters like Susan Bones (who is now Dave Bones). Shifting POVs. Dorea/male!Kushina (because why the heck not?). Meddling Mikoto.

Notes: This was made purely to help me grasp conversation flows… I suck at those, so if you have any pointers, feel free to add!

Intro

 **Red Heads**

 _ **A little what if story.**_

 _Or the story in which Namikaze Minato is actually Namikaze Minako and Uzumaki Kushina is actually Uzumaki Shinaku and he meets Dorea Potter who is addicted to red heads._

Part: The Eleventh.  
 _Gain_

Kisses, Mikoto decided, were the best thing ever invented by mankind – Memories of the first kiss she traded with Fugaku was the only thing keeping her slightly sane right then.

She stared thoughtfully at her clasped hands, demurely sitting in front of the entirety council of her clan's Elders, her knee touching Fugaku's and spreading warmth through her.

This meeting would take a while like a lot of important things took time to be decided on – this was the marriage of the clan heir, the old coots had to make sure her bloodline was impeccable and that her family had history of awakened sharingans (Mikoto herself never woke hers, content in staying a chunin and serving inside the village rather than opting for a more active – dangerous – ninjna career).

Just the fact they agreed to have this meeting in the first place was _good_.

Fugaku's father didn't care that his son felt affections for Mikoto, that was certain. All he cared about was that she'd be able to give Fugaku strong children to carry forth the Sharingan.

Her lover, for all that she wanted to believe he didn't mind those things, felt the same as his father – even though he did _love_ her – he'd let her go in a heartbeat and take a more suitable wife should her branch of the family be found lacking.

It hurt.

Somewhat.

But Mikoto was a strong woman, and before allowing herself to fall in love, she made certain to investigate if her family would be approved, she spent time catering allies in the clan who would speak for her when the time came.

Now was the time. Everything was falling according to her plans. She could already hear the sound of the Naka-river when their shrine priest declared them man and wife.

Her stomach still fluttered nervously though.

Fukagu, noticing her stiffening muscles, inclined his head to whisper in her ear "It will be alright, they will approve of us" he comforted.

Mikoto leaned into him for a moment or two, then fell back into her original position before some dust clogged Elder could send her a stink eye for 'inappropriate behavior'.. _Fuck them_ , her Shinaku side whispered maliciously – she quelled that side quite quickly before answering her fiancé.

"I know. I'm not worried about it" And she wasn't.

In the end, when they approved, she made sure to appear as carefree and giddy as possible.

A couple of hours later found Mikoto, still riding a happy high, swinging by Shinaku's apartment. She had to share the good news while there was time for her to socialize. Soon her free time would belong to Fugaku, and she'd have more duties piled on her (being clan head wife was a full time job) – not even mentioning the eventual child!

Poor Shinaku would be left all alone with his love troubles. Mikoto felt she had to help him (while getting a kick out of it) while she still could.

She knocked on the door.

Waited five seconds.

And when the door opened, she had the sudden urge to pound into Shinaku's thick skull with (Preferably) a spiked baton.

"Good evening Uchiha-san. I hope you don't mind me opening the door, Shinaku is busy at the moment" Answered the unwaveringly polite form of Namikaze Minako. Mikoto could see Shinaku sprawled over piles of seals scattered all over his low table, fingers all ink stained and his hair in disarray.

"No, It's fine, I know how he gets" The Uchiha woman waved off handedly, faking an air of disinterest so thick the air vibrated around her in a particularly blank vibe.

"Would you like to come in?" Minako invited, and wasn't that like an eye opener? What had Shinaku been doing in a week that Minako felt comfortable enough in his home to invite people in? He must be spending inordinately large amounts of time with the blonde in this very apartment.

"Yes, excuse me" the raven haired chunin stepped inside Shinaku's den, removed her shoes and found a paper free spot on the couch to sit on, right in front of her red haired friend who didn't even notice she was there yet.

Minako hovered a bit behind them for a second. Mikoto must have taken her seat then, she realized with a small guilty pang that went away quickly enough - the Uchiha was beyond caring at this point. She cleared her throat very pointedly.

"What is it Minako-chan?" Shinaku looked up, his cheeks endearingly stained with finger shaped ink smudges "Oh, Mikoto! What are you doing here _tebane!?_ " She ought to be insulted at his tactlessness if she wasn't so used to his blatant dismissal of her (humble) importance.

"It is I who has to ask… what are you doing?" Plain, direct and non-avoidable. Her dark gaze was piercing Minako as she asked the question. Shinako would have to be the owner of a very thick skull if he didn't get her meaning.

"Huh? Looking at some seals with Minako-chan. She found this really awesome seal jutsu left by the second hokage and asked for help deciphering it _tebane_!" but at the un-amused stare Mikoto flattened at him, his cheeks swelled in a bright pink color contrasting terribly with the ink smudges. He understood her point though. "Ahh… I don't… I haven't… but Minako-chan is…"

His eyes were begging for Mikoto to understand, and she did, in a way. So she kept quiet, stood from her seat and nodded back to Minako when she passed the blond on her way to the door.

Minako had a cup of tea in her hands.

Without looking back, Mikoto left.

She had some investigating and a bit of meddling to do.

Part: The Twelfth  
 _Tea_

"There you are" Dorea jumped when a voice called out from behind her out of nowhere. Thankfully she wasn't as trigger happy as she was a couple of years before her 'imprisonment', but it took physical effort not to react violently at the surprise call. "I've been looking for you, you're a hard one to track down" She twirled on the balls of her feet and met the amused eyes of Shinaku's friend, Uchiha Mikoto.

Dorea remembered the older looking girl from the time she had to pass through the security gate inspection and from odd, funny little tales, courtesy of Shinaku.

"Uchiha-san, to what do I own the pleasure?" The green eyed girl asked, feeling bewildered. What could the Uchiha girl want with her? She's been on her way to her new apartment after a tough day minding her very own business.

The Uchiha smiled thinly, a veiled thing that belied a greater motive. "I come in behalf of our mutual friend. Come with me for some snacks?" that picked up Dorea's interest. She's been quite lonely lately, what with Shinaku blowing her up for the entire week.

Not that she felt lonely or anything.

"That'd be lovely. There is this tea house I've been meaning to go but…" But she understood he has his own life aside from her. She shouldn't be selfish.

"Your usual escort has made himself scarce?" Uchiha Mikoto went for the bull's eye "That's what I want to talk about, come on, we can walk together, I quite like tea-houses myself!" Dorea's fellow raven haired girl offered an arm just like Shinaku would have done – making her giggle at the irony – Mikoto was the one who taught him how to do it.

Maybe it was just a shinobi thing, though.

"Alright. Oh, I heard about your engagement from some of my shop's patrons, congratulations" Her mind went to a couple of Uchiha children who made a point of coming around at least once per week ever since she opened a shop (there was only so long she'd be able to endure working for someone else without flipping a new one) – One of them was Obito.

"Thank you" Mikoto accepted primly, with a large smile splitting her face and flushed cheeks in pleasure "Yes, you have opened a shop, haven't you? I remember hearing about it now, Siriusu-pranks, really?" the Uchiha conversed lightly.

Dorea nodded slowly "Someone very dear to me used to love pranks, I thought this would be a nice way to remember them by, plus it makes me happy to see the children having fun" Sirius, the Twins, even Teddy once he was old enough – she missed her family something fierce and has found herself breaking down more than once in grief.

If only she had fought harder when the ministry arrested her…

Shaking her head, Dorea snapped once more to attention when Mikoto asked something, clearing her face from remembered misery and doing her best to mask the now dark feelings chasing her heart "I'm sorry I never asked before, but how are you settling in?" the other girl seemed genuinely interested in the answer.

What a nice thing. It wasn't the same, but it make Dorea feel a bit better.

"Just fine. Shinaku has been of great help. I understand it was you who sent him my way?" And wasn't that amusing? Though not enough to really clear the melancholy that settled on Dorea now, it did lift her mood a bit more to look into Mikoto's eyes and see the mischief shining there.

"Yes I did. I apologize, but I confess that at first it was to teach him a lesson in humility" The other raven haired girl confessed, making Dorea finally crack an honest smile, small as it was. They both knew Shinaku and his prickly (tsundere) moods.

"We're here, let's find a table" The green eyed girl said, pointing to a quaint little tea-house that she couldn't visit before. It was a lovely and private place, if not a little expensive "For two, please" Dorea asked the waitress, motioning for Mikoto and herself.

"I've never been here before, let's hope the tea is good" The Uchiha quipped, following Dorea into the shop.

"Good tea is hard to find if it's not imported from Tea-Country. The fees are staggering" The green eyed witch added, just to fill the space between conversations.

They settled comfortably in place, their table on the far end of the room and close to a window, enough for a warm afternoon light to slitter through – they ordered a pot of tea and some sweet cakes to go with it.

"Now… let us go directly to business. How do you feel about Shinaku?" That caught Dorea by surprise. She turned wide eyes to Shinaku's friend in wonder that she had the courage to be this prompt. Not even Ron had balls this big or a mouth as big.

"That's a very direct question" What had her feelings for Shinaku to do with anything? Dorea mulled on her feelings, the moronic darkness that filled her abashed somehow by her surprise.

But Mikoto wasn't to be stopped. "Just answer it honestly" the other girl ordered imperiously, with an impish glint in her dark eyes.

Dorea sat back on her soft seat with a sigh, crossing her arms over her chest and just thinking – she could lie, omit or simply ignore Mikoto's question… but the other girl felt genuine affection for their red haired mutual friend – acting rash or not.

The least Dorea could do was be honest "I… like him, but I understand he has someone else he likes, so I've braced myself for rejection" And wasn't that another surprise that caught Dorea unprepared? When she least expected, her heart was beating rapidly and her palms sweating and she a bundle of nerves, every time Shinaku held her hand or was just his stupid self.

She understood herself enough to know when she had a crush. A big one… was it love? Well, not _yet_. The more she spent time with the red head, the more she found herself falling deeper.

"Why?" Mikoto demanded softly "I mean, why not fight for him?" Minako – the other girl – was certainly fighting in her own way! Dorea deflated, once more cut between telling the truth or blowing Mikoto off completely.

Trust, Dorea found during her vastly changing life, was a two way street. If she didn't extend it first, the more paranoid between the two of them would never do it (Mikoto, it comes with being a ninja).

"Hm… I think it's best if you know, after all, this is something I haven't said to Shinaku yet… I am the last survivor of my people… there was a war, and I was the only one left, so I thought to start again somewhere else" Dorea's voice failed her at some points, and she took time to edit her story and still make it the honest truth… Mikoto's face was turning whiter as she kept speaking "I don't want to burden him with everything that comes with me, sometimes I even think I don't deserve the happiness I feel here in Konoha… If Shinaku likes someone else, I won't stand in the way and I will be happy for him"

And wasn't that a perfect example of Survivor's Guilt?

Maybe even self esteem problems… how can she be worthy to someone if she couldn't even save her world? (not that she had a chance, that's why she's here, making a second chance for herself).

"I'm really sorry about your people, and I'm glad Konoha has helped you heal… But you should have spoken about this to Shinaku already" Her companion's voice was gentle, compassion and a little pity in her black eyes.

Dorea flinched.

"Perhaps, but I don't want pity" She made that clear, and the ninja understood for her face relaxed again, Mikoto propping her chin on her hand as she leaned forward.

"I think you will find Shinaku would have found more in common with you than I, I still have my clan, Shinaku lost his and is one of the only survivors from his birth land" the Uchiha confided. It wasn't a secret – and Dorea was privy to that happening since it was a fixed point in time – but maybe she hasn't associated Shinaku with the fall of Uzushio yet.

It hurt, Dorea fet her chest clenching, imagining Shunaku suffering even if just a portion of the pain she felt at the loss of her world. "Oh…" she breathed out, a bit stunned and wrong footed.

Mikoto waited until Dorea absorbed all that before continuing mercilessly "If you really care for him, don't give up on him yet. None of you deserve half heartedness" she spoke firmly, daring Dorea to deny.

Dorea didn't deny, but said instead. "You're right, but… Shinaku likes another girl, not me, how can I fight against his very feelings? It's not my place to dictate how he should feel" All this subject changes were making her head spin – but Mikoto seemed bent on going somewhere with this conversation.

"What if he cares for you as well?" The Uchiha urged "He likes Minako, but he likes you too, he's just confused right now. If you give up, he will pick Minako by default and it won't be a fair fight" she still sounded subdued, most likely due to Dorea's past, but she felt strongly about this, the witch noticed with no small amount of bewilderment.

Hooding her eyes, she asked. "Are you sure?" it was half hearted at best, a lame hope at the end of the line of so much heartbreak. She didn't want any more of _that_.

The other girl nodded, a wan smile tugging half her lips up "I'm sure. I will even help you out since Minako had a head start"

"Why would you do that?" What were her reasons for setting Dorea like this? Mikoto really thought about how to answer. It showed on the way her thin dark eyebrows furrowed up and her lips puckered in wonder.

"You're good to him, and I like you better than Minako" She said after a few seconds with honesty oozing from every pore, and Dorea didn't regret her decision to be truthful at the very beginning of their talk.

The road was indeed two way.

Plus, Mikoto's reasons were good enough, she found. Wanting your best friend's wellbeing was usually a good reason – even if Dorea disdained the whole 'greater good' crap, she had her own, very _selfish_ reasons for wanting to believe Mikoto.

"What can I do?" Dorea leaned forward as well.

The Uchiha smiled again, this time with more life and motioned with a hand "Listen here…"

They stayed in that tea-house for a long hour.

The tea ended up being imported from Tea-Country anyway.

Part: The Thirteenth.  
 _Visit_

His body was lounged comfortably on his knotty sofa. Maybe _comfortably_ wasn't exactly the situation's word, but he finally found a position that made use of the lumps in the blasted thing to somewhat massage his aching back.

Sitting for hours hunched over papers was a definite back killer.

Minako-chan just left his apartment in favor of her own, she spent the day and together they finally managed a break through the seals for the jutsu she was working on. It was a legacy of the Second Hokage entrusted to Minako-chan by Jiraiya-sama, who was the Third Hokage's apprentice.

Shinaku shifted slightly, feeling a bit cold.

He was not allowed to see the entirety of the jutsu' seals.

That made him feel like crap, he'd admit to himself. Minako-chan brought pieces and layers of the seals of the Hiraishin for them to study, and he'd apply his knowledge on the subject to help the blond break through the pieces, never seeing the entire picture.

It hurt. Being used like that.

The Red head was not to be underestimated though, he grinned humorlessly.

He was quite able to reverse engineer Minako-chan's jutsu, even if she seemed to believe him unable to do so – or maybe she knew he knew how to work the seals by himself, but trusted him enough not to? If that was the case, she could bring the entire thing! He would not tell a soul nor use the technique himself dammit.

It also hurt, that dismissal, as silent as it was. Minako-chan was leaving him behind in terms of skill by leagues if the state of things were taken into account, and she didn't care about what he felt.

Shinaku curled his hand into fists and raised it above his eyes, barely needing to concentrate on his chakra to form a dense, glowing chain that dangled from his closed hand and snaked around his neck like a ghostly snake. He remembered the words granny Mito said once, about what being a Jinshuriki meant.

' _You were kidnapped once, Shinaku, don't give them the opportunity to try a second time. You have two choices… you can become revered and feared throughout the Elemental Nations, so much that no one will dare approach you again – Or you can erase yourself and fall into obscurity in Konoha and let the village' silent strength protect you'_

He was trained by granny Mito in the Uzumaki clan techniques. He was a powerful shinobi and the Kyuubi lived in his gut… So why did he feel so helpless?

Wallowing in self pity – Shinaku sighed – what more could go wrong?

His doorbell sounded. The red head bit his knuckles to keep himself from cursing up a storm - his charka sense telling him exactly who was behind that door.

"Go away" His words were muffled by his fist, but they echoed well enough.

But she was not one to be deterred. Guilt started to bloom in his chest… He kind of missed Dorea and her easy presence "It's me, Dorea. I come bearing dinner"

Shinaku couldn't ignore her now, could he? To hell with his brooding. He could sulk more later.

Dorea stepped into his apartment, tiptoeing around scattered papers and jumping over an upturned pile of magazines (he should get into cleaning, sometime), she reached his sofa just as he jumped to his feet to greet her on equal grounds "Ah… right, come in… don't mind the mess _tebane!_ " he greeted enthusiastically, chest tightening with every breath that brought him Dorea's scent. He still cared for her for all he wanted to deny his conflict. "What brings you here with offerings of dinner?"

His green eyed friend sighed once, before smiling a bit sadly. "You've been avoiding me" she pointed out, making him feel worse since it dawned for him that in helping Minako-chan this entire time, he's been blowing Dorea off "It's been a week since we last spoke, I was wondering if I did or said something to offend you"

No, No, No. No way. Why did she think that?

"No way! I mean, no. I just been busy, you know? All these seals won't decipher themselves" His voice almost quivered, nervousness crawling up his spine only to disperse when Dorea sent him a bright smile in response – though still unsure deep down.

"Are you sure? I've missed you Shinaku, you're my first friend here in Konoha and you mean a lot to me" she said, and for some reason that made him feel better about himself, just like his beaming, face splitting grin seemed to cheer Dorea up some (someone cared about him for _him,_ and not because they _had_ to like Mikoto, or because he was _useful_ like Minako).

"Y-yeah?" He smiled in relief that he's not succeeded in pushing her away "I didn't realize, I'm sorry for ignoring you" that was from the bottom of his heart. He silently promised himself not to do it again.

Dorea nodded happily, accepting his apologies easily (this time), and pushing the pile of plastic containers onto his arms "Just don't do it again and we will be alright" and since he's already agreed to that in his head, he nodded with what seemed like cheer. The scent of ramen assaulted his nose, making it irrevocably easier to ignore Dorea's own scent that was mercilessly teasing him with her close proximity.

He was too aware of her, it was dangerous. He had to remember Minako-chan's face every time his heart faltered and filled with thoughts of Dorea. It became harder when he noticed she was wearing orange again – this time a deep, dark orange dress with forest green details that made her eyes more obvious.

"Thanks…" He grumbled half about the ramen, and half about her forgiveness of him being a jerk (again).

"What?" Her brows furrowed, drawing his eyes to the faded lightning bolt scar sitting on her temple. Shinaku blinked, repeating himself when Dorea made clear she hasn't heard his grumble.

"I mean, thanks for the dinner _datebane_!" He swallowed, holding the pile of ramen containers with one hand and reaching out with the other to pull Dorea to his Kitchen table.

As the both of them sat down (After Shinaku tossed all the littering notes from the table to the floor), Dorea spoke again "Oh, you're welcome. I was meaning to invite you out, but I had a feeling you'd be holed up here with your work" She said lightly, unconcernedly, accepting the pair of chopsticks he gave her along with one of the containers.

"I would have gone out if you invited me" Shinaku admitted, surprising himself at the easy of it, and also having thinking that he would also not oppose if she'd mean a _date._ "Though since you already brought ramen I see no reason to go out now" he grinned playfully over his plastic cup, catching Dorea's eyes on his darker ones and smirking.

His friend tilted her head in that endearing manner of hers and blinked large, doe green eyes up at him (His heart gave a mighty thump and his throat dried) "Can you meet me tomorrow for lunch?" She asked, and suddenly his earlier thought of how it wouldn't be so bad if they went on a date returned. "I don't mean as a casual meeting between friends, I mean as a date" Her face was so serious it was cute.

Shinaku stopped himself from accepting outright though. His mouth felt stuffed with cotton balls.

Heart beating happily before seemingly turned to lead in a few seconds as he realized something important.

As far an innocent as her request was, it was loaded of consequences for him. What if Minako-chan saw them? He couldn't just say yes… his mind drifted to that very afternoon, just before Dorea arrived and he was caught thinking gloomy thoughts.

"Uh…" He grunted, avoiding her eyes.

Dorea's face fell, though she tried to hide it with a small brave smile. "It's alright… I know you like Minako-chan. I just want to let you know that I like you too, and if you want to continue being friends, I'm…" Her voice choked. She blinked rapidly, shaking her head "I'm leaving. Excuse me…"

And before he could comprehend what was going on, Dorea was out his door faster than academy kids during recess.

What a mess… Shinaku slumped down his table, ignoring the now cooling ramen.

Time to go back to that brooding.

…

TBC~


	5. Chapter 5

Gen Summary: Dorea picks Naruto world to fall into, tries to seamlessly ingrate herself in Konoha and end causing trouble. The good sort.  
Warnings: Kiss cannon goodbye. Fem!Minato and male!Kushina. Mentions of genderbent HP characters like Susan Bones (who is now Dave Bones). Shifting POVs. Dorea/male!Kushina (because why the heck not?). Meddling Mikoto.

Notes: This was made purely to help me grasp conversation flows… I suck at those, so if you have any pointers, feel free to add!

Intro

 **Red Heads**

 _ **A little what if story.**_

 _Or the story in which Namikaze Minato is actually Namikaze Minako and Uzumaki Kushina is actually Uzumaki Shinaku and he meets Dorea Potter who is addicted to red heads._

Part: The Fourteenth  
 _Try_

The next morning dawned dewy and dark, but Shinaku woke up with a new resolution. He pumped himself with courage, smiled at his reflection on the mirror and tried to think positively.

"Minako-chan. Go out with me" He asked as soon as he met Minako-chan waiting for Bakakashi on training ground 9. They met there sometimes (Shinaku and Minako) to go to his apartment when Minako finished whipping her disciple into shape.

The blonde jonin in question just stared at him confusedly, though there was this delighted light in her eyes that made him certain she'd agree "Oh… Uzumaki-san! That caught me by surprise, where is it coming from?" She asked, waving at Kakashi, who was skipping out on them as soon as he saw the approaching redhead.

Good. Kid learns fast.

"I… I like you, go on a date with me" Shinaku repeated with more conviction, but faltered when Minako's face fell, that light in her blue eyes dimming. She looked frustrated about something which didn't mean anything to him.

"I can't right now and you know why" His blonde friend answered a bit defensively after a moment of staring blankly at one another "I have piles of things to do and Kakashi-kun needs attention, maybe next time" She finished with a head shake, excusing herself and leaving him there with his shattered confidence. Shinaku felt his stomach drop to his feet…

How… why… what?

Rejection _hurt_.

Shinaku thought to himself, shoulders dropping. It hurt and it made no sense whatsoever. After spending the night gathering his courage to confess to Minako-chan and she shrugs his feelings off like they were nothing… Dorea made this look ridiculously easy.

Oh dear, his chest constricted with even more guilt.

Mikoto, his dark haired Uchiha teammate chose that moment to drop in surprise on him. She pulled his right arm and tucked it with her right elbow, forcing him to fall into pace with her as she led them away from the training ground.

He just wanted to curl up somewhere and sulk "Did you get dumped by Minako?" Mikoto asked, drawing his attention away from the beaten down dirt road.

"None of your business, leave me alone" He snapped at her, dodging expectedly when she tried to swat his head with her left hand for his big mouth. He couldn't bring himself to feel sorry about mouthing to Mikoto though.

She did mind his attitude, however she chose a meaner way to get even "No need to get catty… Did Dorea-chan visit you last night?"

His mouth tasted like ash, though Mikoto's words made something click in his head "So it was you who sent her _tebane!_ " Because Dorea, passive, docile Dorea would never have the balls to go to him under normal circumstances.

She said she liked him… so would she just sit back and watch as he pranced about with Minako-chan? _Now_ he felt even more a jerk.

What must have taken out of her to prompt her to act that way… she must have been feeling quite desperate or reckless. Or heartbroken. _Feh…_

The Uchiha woman waved him off, ignoring his words and concentrating on their meaning "Then she _did_ visit you! How did it go?" she caught on, making him flinch slightly – which she most assuredly felt thanks to their linked arms.

"Wha? How do you-" He sputtered inelegantly, shaking his head and waving his free arm.

Mikoto cut him off "We talked, now answer the question, how did it go?" Once more his chest felt tight with a dark sentiment at what Dorea must have felt last night, he kept his lips clinched shut "If you don't tell me I will hunt Dorea-chan down" His (ex) friend asked/threatened quite effectively.

But Shinaku was undeterred in this case, he tried another way out hoping to succeed in escaping Mikoto on a mission. "Since when has she become Dorea-chan to you?"

The Uchiha she-devil caught on that as well and squeezed his arm painfully until his cheeks colored in anger "Don't change the subject. And since we talked" she snapped with temper. Her answer to everything was ' _since we talked_ '…

"Tsc…" The growl that escaped his throat was utterly heartfelt.

"That bad?" Shinaku nodded empathically slowly.

Then shook his head a moment later, as if trying to find words to describe the emotional disaster (maybe he should just pretend to have gynophobia completely and be done with women!) "Not… really… but…"

"You refused her feelings" Mikoto understood right away and…"Now at least you know how she felt last night"… crushed the rest of his spirit in the next sentence.

"It sucks _tebane_ " Shinaku confessed sulkily, cheeks puffed out in a pout "But Minako-chan said maybe next week…" There _had_ to be a silver lining in all this, right? And the more he thought about this, the more cheerful he managed to make himself. Maybe there still was a chance!

"Does it matter?" His (ex) friend asked, butting into his hope bubble and popping it mercilessly (again) "It hurts the same, doesn't it?" she pointed out, managing to convey how big of an idiot he was in six words.

"Yeah" He agreed reluctantly, but added as soon as he could just to keep positive "… I can wait for Minako-chan, though" Was he so willing to dismiss Dorea like that? Even Shinaku didn't believe his own words.

As if reading his mind, Mikoto argued "Yes, you can, but how long do you think Dorea-chan will wait for _you_?" Shinaku tried to imagine how he'd feel in Dorea' shoes, and found he had new empathy for her as of sudden "She is starting to make new friends, soon she won't need you anymore and you will be left behind by Dorea-chan too" And there went his head, imagining _both_ Dorea and Minako leaving him behind.

It wasn't fair.

And also hurt like hell.

"I'm not! I'm not being left behind by anyone!" His words were heated and insecure – Shinaku hated himself just a bit for it (and Mikoto too) "Dorea _likes_ me, she won't… forget me"

"Don't be even more of a block head than usual. Dorea-chan is a beautiful young woman who has moved to the village, already has her own business and is fairly successful. She is friends with us, who are ninja, thus she has connection to the future Uchiha-clan matriarch and the Uzumaki-clan heir – others will notice her value soon, and then she might forget you when someone who _really_ likes her comes along" He knew that. _He knew that_. But…

"That's not fair _datebane!_ " Shinaku cried out, wrenching his arm free of his (ex)friend's and turning around to face her. His eyes were hard, icy shards. He _really_ liked her, can't they understand that?

Mikoto ignored his anger and pushed further "It's not fair to Dorea-chan. You've been stringing her on all this time, and if you keep pushing her she will eventually get the idea that you don't want her around" He knew that damnit!

"I don't push her away" He didn't! Did he? A new wave of dark feelings made his head sag slightly "Just a bit… because Minako-chan needed help with a couple of seals this week and…" excuses he told himself and Mikoto. At the time, that really seemed like such a good idea.

Why does things need to be so complicated?

"And last week you had a mission and barely any time to spare on her, but you at least made an effort. Girls notice these things" Mikoto continued relentlessly, finishing in a soft, understanding voice.

Shinaku reeled somewhat by Mikoto's change of tone, but nodded nonetheless despite his bad humor. "Oh, right, you're a girl…" He noted with a touch of maliciousness.

Her right eye twitched at his brilliant observation, but she did smile (poisonously) sweetly "Yes. Oh… Shinaku. Just tell me, since you're willing to ignore Dorea-chan to spend time with Minako, you won't mind when she moves on. You won't mind when you see her on the streets beside another guy, will you?"

His mind conjured the images on its own. He 'saw' Dorea hanging out with another guy, 'saw' her being lovey-dovey with someone else, 'saw' as she passed him by without even recognizing him… It made his blood boil and every instinct he possessed screamed about the _wrongness_.

Yes, he would mind.

Deeply.

He was a jealous bastard, he realized, not liking the picture Mikoto painted in his head. If he left Minako-chan alone, she'd move on without him and be awesome on her on – if he left Dorea alone, she'd move on without him and leave him alone… why can't he have both of them?!

"I… don't know" He mumbled at last, escaping Mikoto's presence and fleeing to the top of the Hokage monument to think.

Part: The Fifteenth  
 _War_

And think he did. A lot too. And in all his immature wisdom, he also had a spark of brilliancy.

Shinaku came to the conclusion that the best way to deal with things was to be upfront. He'd lay out his idea and brace himself for the reactions. (At this rate he'd have grey hairs before long – that or give up on girls forever).

"Dorea, we need to talk" The red head approached his target precisely at eleven fifty five. "I… would like to ask if that date invite is still standing" His chin tucked out defiantly, daring her to reject him – hoping she wouldn't.

Dorea blinked, before a wide, welcoming smile blossomed on her face making the very around her sparkle beautifully. "Of course it is!" She exclaimed with a welcoming expression, shoulders relaxing as she read him for his state of mind and found comfort in his eyes. "Just let me close up and we can go grab lunch"

Shinaku perked up some more, light filling him at Dorea's easy acceptance, as if erasing all the drama that happened the past days.

"Ramen?" He asked hopefully, making his green eyed companion giggle with mirth at his predictability.

"Yep, as if it could have been anything else with you!" Dorea agreed, poking his sides and making his cheeks flare with color. Focus, he told himself. He was on a mission here.

Feeling a bit bad about making her eat Ramen every time they went out, he allowed reluctantly. "Eheh… if you want, we can go visit one of those frilly cafes you like so much"

His green eyed friend shook her head understandingly. "Nah, ramen is fine" It was all the encouragement he needed. The red head bend down and scooped Dorea in his arms, pressing her against his chest and marveling at her softness without conscious thought. "Shinaku!" The victim in question protested laughingly, finding in herself to have fun instead of being irritated.

He appreciated that. A lot. He did put her down when they approached his favorite food stand though.

"Hey there Ichiraku-ji-chan, for two!" Shinaku bellowed, catching the ramen stand's owner attention and waving an arm at himself and his 'date'. It left a weird, sweet, fluttering sensation in the cavity where his heart was located. "The usual for both of us _tebane_!"

They both settled on side-by-side stools. Dorea's legs didn't reach the ground, he noticed absently as his eyes raked over her sitting form. She felt his stare and looked up at him, smiling softly. "So, what is it that you wanted to talk about?"

His face actually heated in shame. Shinaku had to swallow a couple of times before the cotton left his mouth. "Ugh… er… I'm sorry about the other night, and about avoiding you until now"

Dorea just blinked, eyebrows furrowed and smile losing warmth. "I must have freaked you out huh?" she sighed to herself, absently waving a hand as if wanting to spare his feelings and diminish her own. "Don't worry about it" she said, and he'd have believed had Mikoto not made him look into Dorea a bit deeper.

Her eyes were dark and her smile made of plastic. Shinaku picked up her hand, holding it between his own. "No, I'm going to worry. You know why?" He asked, staring deep into her befuddled, but hopeful eyes. "This is going to sound totally stupid"

It sounded stupid in his head, must sound stupid out loud. "Hm?" Dorea queried, tilting her head and making her unbound hair slip over a delicate looking shoulder.

Shinaku stilled in response to the cute picture, but braced himself and continued. "I… I like you Dorea, but I also like Minako-chan" He admitted shamefully, wholly expecting reproach in her mien but finding only understanding.

"Ah…" Dorea nodded slowly, in that particular manner of hers, accepting his words in tandem. "Um… Mikoto-chan talked to me the other day and-"

The red head grimaced, interrupting Dorea before she could finish, already guessing what she was about to say. "Told you to go knock some sense back into me? Yeah, she's let me know about that, and also told me how stupid I was" He squeezed her hand, drawing a sad little grin out of her. "I just can't decide between you and Minako-chan, I thought about things a lot and it's not fair to you, nor to Minako-chan" His words were _urging_ her to understand.

She didn't. Selfless little bint. He thought half exasperated and half fondly.

The green eyed girl's voice shook a little as she told him. "If… If you like Namikaze-san, I won't hold you back"

"It's not about you holding me back _tebane_!" Shinaku hissed, giving in to exasperation in the end. "I don't want to hold _you_ back"

"You're not. Holding me back, I mean" Dorea denied vehemently, with both words and her darkened eyes, there was this determined tilt to her lips that scared him. "Let me tell you my story… You know I came to Konoha with only the clothes on my back and what little money I managed to salvage. I came from a really far away place, beyond boundaries you can't even imagine. It was a long way but I did make it to Konoha. I did all that, sacrificed so much, because my whole world got destroyed. Everything I knew and loved taken from me. I couldn't handle the loneliness anymore and decided to move on… when I arrived in Konoha, I had the possibilities of a fresh start. And you know what I cherish more about this place? You"

The words she said, he dissected them slowly.

She was like him, was the first thing he noticed. Lost her home and was alone, struggling to build a new family for herself but hesitating because she just couldn't lose them again. She didn't want to lose him by standing between him and Minako – he finally saw _why_.

The second was the admission that he was the one she cherishes the most.

That was… priceless.

"Dorea…" Shinaku whispered, almost brokenly, asking without words for clarification on all she's said.

"You were the first person to extend a hand to me and I'm so happy to have met you, so don't think you owe me anything, it's the other way around! I'm happy to be your friend, and I will still be your friend no matter what you do or chose, alright?" Dorea expounded, finishing her speech by squeezing his hand instead.

"I… thank you for trusting me so much, I won't let you down _tebane!_ " He felt humbled beyond words. He'd also cherish her feelings a lot more, for now he found what worth they have.

The ramen tasted divine and he escorted Dorea back to her shop by his arm, taking the scenic route and taking comfort in her steady presence.

A little while later, he'd need all the comfort he could get when the second part of his plans came about.

He approached his second target with a distinct optimism. If the open conversation he had with Dorea was so fruitful, a part of him was hopeful that the conversation he planned to have with Minako-chan would also go wonderfully.

He was planning on letting both girls know about his feeling, and then go from there. It was only fair, right?

"Minako-chan, we need to have a very serious talk" Shinaku found Minako by the training grounds, she was finishing a lap around her favorite training spot, but stopped dutifully when she heard him. "I like you a lot, you know, but I can't wait for you forever… it's been a couple of weeks and we're about to be deployed. I need to know if we can make whatever that is between us work" He began. "I also have Dorea to think about and-"

Minako cleared her throat and raised a hand, stopping him midsentence. "I don't think we should be having this conversation right now" She said succinctly, making him blink confusedly.

"Then when should we?" He demanded quietly, staring at her the same way he did Dorea. He couldn't read her.

"War is breaking out between Konoha, Iwa and Kumo. A lot can happen in the meantime, we don't have time to worry about these kinds of things! If we're going to have a serious relationship, you have to grow up" Minako's words cut him deeper than he'd have liked to admit to himself.

It also made something within his chest _give._

"Is that how you really feel _tebane_?" Shinaku asked one more time, just to be sure, clinging to a last remain of hope that wouldn't be snuffled by Minako's callous words nor his own feelings.

The blonde sighed tiredly, for once showing him her weariness. He swallowed deeply. "You're cute and smart, and really nice to spent time with, but I just can't concentrate on _you_ right now" She said, and something in her face was urging him to _understand_. To give her a chance. To _wait_.

"Alright, I understand"

And he spoke the truth.

"Thank you" Minako whispered, leaving him behind one more time.

He understood. He really did.

Didn't mean he had to accept being dismissed, nor did it mean he had to take it quietly.

Even if Minako ever liked him at all, he'd not wait for her… like Mikoto said, life moves forward, and plus, he was not feeling all hung up on the estate Minako left him. Shinaku actually felt relief invade his being, for now, for the first time since he met Dorea he could allow himself to truly _care_ for her.

It was going to be fun.

If he ignored the bittersweetness. And assured Dorea she was _not_ second best.

Part: The Fifteenth/1  
 _Love  
_

He pounced. Literally.

She was there, curled on her bed with a book and a cup of tea sitting on the side table, all adorable with an orange, flower printed dress – hair damp as if she's recently took a bath, and that made his nose twitch as he remembered the last time he caught her unaware after a bath.

That particular shirt of his still smelled of her shampoo. For some demented, possessive reason, he was unable to wash it and kept the thing buried in his closet… That was disturbing and stalkerish… so Shinaku shrugged and broke into her house with shameless abandon.

"Dorea, get up _tebane!_ " He ordered, she squeaked, he got impatient and pulled her off her bed. "We're going out" Shinaku let her know before carelessly tossing himself and his precious cargo out the window whence he came from.

Dorea didn't even bother struggling, she just settled in his arms and glared balefully at him from behind annoyed green eyes. He cooed mentally, pulling the girl closer so he could rub their cheeks together. "Shinaku! What's going on?" The girl accepted his cuddle, and that made a grin the size of Suna's walls nearly break his face in two.

"You will see _tebane!_ " He sped up, hopping over rooftops until finally reaching the set destination.

The top of the Hokage mountain.

A glower made sure pesky genin scampered, and he gently settled Dorea on her feet. She didn't even need to hold onto him to regain her bearings anymore, but she did whack his shoulder in admonission.

"You've taken me away from a really good bock" She grounded between her teeth "So this better be good" Her glare was adorable.

Not resisting anymore and tittering with nervous energy, Shinaku manhandled Dorea one more time, this time grabbing onto her arms and smacking their lips together.

A second later, both were dazedly staring at the other. "I like _you_ , not Minako. Will you give me a chance?"

Dorea's cheeks burned. He felt proud of himself for growing the balls to kiss her first. "Fine… as long as you work on your kissing techniques" She grumbled, but was smiling brightly up at him. "I think you need to try again, practice, you see?"

Shinaku complied happily. Training never felt so nice.

Part: The Fifteenth/2  
 _Life_

…Goes on.

"So Minako has two more students" Shinaku told Dorea over their customary cup of ramen. If she was a _normal_ woman, she'd be worrying about her waist line with all the extra calories daily consumption of noodles brought. But witches had naturally higher metabolism that allowed them to channel magic without risk to their bodies. "I dunno if I will ever taken on brats like she did… what do you think?" Her very own personal red head asked, spying her from underneath his fringe and grinning unrepentantly.

Dorea grinned back, reaching out with a hand to mess with the fascinating strands of blood colored hair, when she had Shinaku a purring mass of contentment, she answered carefully. "I think you would be great with kids" She said honestly "You might come off as irresponsible at first, but I know you take your responsibilities seriously"

"You really think so? I can only have my own team when my promotion goes through _tebane_ " He shook his head, looking put out when she stopped her ministration and leaning down on her lap in retaliation – throwing the ramen plastic cup carelessly over the couch they were sitting on. "What do you mean with 'irresponsible'?" Shinaku's cheeks puffed out, Dorea only blinked innocently.

"Mikoto-chan might have told me a couple of stories…" She admitted freely, to his sputtered protest. "So you still speaking to Minako?" Dorea's curiosity had a tinge of darkness in it.

"Yeah, she's always been a friend for me" Shinaku eyed her then, as if noticing something important since his eyes widened comically. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Nope, you're mine" Dorea spoke with confidence, finding it easier every time to admit this to herself.

It's been almost a year since Shinaku kidnapped her from her home (again) and sprung the biggest, wettest, most awkward kiss in the history of kisses on her – on top of the Hokage monument, which was apparently a hot spot for love confessions if the gossip she heard was anything to go by. Shinaku was such a shameless closet romantic it wasn't even funny teasing him about it now.

It was also the best kiss she's ever had.

Since then Dorea managed to drag his ass to live with her – after the first really painful month during which they 'dated', and then the even more painful following month in which his friends and colleagues realized they were dating. After everyone and their mothers knew, it was only right that Minako also heard about the relationship in the rumor mills.

She was oddly alright about it too, giving Shinaku her blessings to move on.

Well, Dorea smiled like the cat who cot the canary. This cat had the canary curled on her lap and nuzzling into her stomach, while the _other cat_ was left licking its chops. A small part of her felt guilty at having butted in what was supposed to mean a really deep romance between Minako and Shinaku.

But the larger part of her, the one that was so tired of being alone embraced this nice, cuddly feeling and said ' _to hell with following the timeline'_ and just did what she wanted to. She'd do her darnest best to make sure this version of the timeline didn't go to shambles.

"What are you thinking about?" Shinaku asked, poking her forehead. Dorea rolled her eyes fondly and leaned down to kiss him, prodding his lips with her tongue and wasting no time to descend into a passion filled moment that made her toes curl. "I love you" She whispered against him when they parted for air. "And I'm glad I have you".

"I love you too" Her lover reciprocated, raising his hands to weave them in her hair. Dorea groaned when he started an impromptu massage.

"Even if the world ends because of me?" He eyed her oddly, quirking an eyebrow.

"Someone thinks a lot of herself" Dorea kissed him again. "But right, if the world ends, it will be because of us both, cause we're awesome like that, yeah?"

' _It may as well happen like that'_ Dorea nodded instead, deciding to forgone guilt and just give into her addiction.

…

A few years later.

"Get out of the way woman"

A masked man glowered down at her. She was hunched over her fallen red haired husband who just had the grace to drag himself back home after helping save the Hokage.

"If you think you will put your filthy hands on my husband, you are sorely mistaken"…

Dorea growled, bending protectively over Shinaku, eyes glowing with her power.

"Dorea… You can't…"

He protested weakly. If only he'd been stronger…

"Shut up. You got yourself beaten up rescuing Yondaime Hokage – Minako-san – in the first place"

She hissed, not looking away from the masked man… who was this, she didn't know. Obito still suffered the accident at Kannabi bridge. But he returned home and was contently dating Rin, who has become the Three tails jinchuriki after another plot by the bad guys went wrong.

"But you're not… a ninja… you…"

…

"Listen to him and step out of the way"

Wasn't this remotely familiar, Dorea thought.

"Are you mad? I won't let you here to die you idiot"

"Then you will die together!"

Attack.

"NO!"

Her stupid ass husband pushed her out of the way and took on the enemy's power on his own. Dread pooled in her belly as she saw the red spread through the floor beneath his body.

"SHINAKU!"

The masked man tossed a look at her, mockingly cleaning his sword against her husband's torn clothes.

"…"

Dorea saw red.

…

"And that's how mummy saved daddy from certain death" Dorea finished with a small smile, wincing in pain as she remembered what happened that fateful day.

The masked man came anyway, he was a fixed point – couldn't be helped – and attacked with two tailed beasts (The seven tails and the four tails), intent on leveling Konoha into a crater. Minako, being the genius sealer speared the defenses against the chakra beasts, showing herself to be quite the badass Hokage. Only the villain was planning on releasing a final bijuu – Kyuubi, and almost succeeded.

He didn't count on Dorea's presence.

It took almost all the power she had to keep the kyuubi inside Shinaku (the moment it escaped was the moment her husband was lost for sure), then it took even _more_ to heal him. She died, he told her later when they were sharing a hospital room. Her heart had stuttered to a stop by the time help came to them.

She gave her life for his…

It had the odd advantage of ridding her of that pesky immortality. Apparently, she's used what was left of the Philosopher Stone in her system as a catalyst to channel her powers into Shinaku, restoring his own life.

They still haven't caught onto the masked man yet. (it's been five years since that day).

Konoha was still on her ass for hiding what they thought a 'kekkei genkai' for so long.

And Shinaku was even more cuddly – the older he got, the more adorable he became.

Oh… and she had kids of her own! In her old world – even in this own, Dorea felt divided about having children… she'd outlive them in the best of hypothesis… but now, now she could embrace life to its fullest. Little Kotome made sure of that. He was also a red head.

"Oooh!" Kotome giggled. "Mummy is cooler than Daddy _tebani_!" Shinaku sneaked an arm behind Dorea and pinched her bum for spreading _lies_.

"That's so not true! Daddy is a lot more badass than mummy _tebane_!" He grumbled.

Dorea chuckled behind her hand and peeked at her husband from beneath her lashes. "Want to bet on that?"

"Name your price" He rose up to the challenge.

"A foot rub"

"Deal!" Shinaku nodded resolutely, shaking Dorea's hand. "Now how do we go about proving my awesomeness?" Kotome laughed, jumping into his daddy's arms. "Right champ?"

Dorea grinned sharply, blinking innocently when the father and son pair looked at her. "I'm more awesome, just admit it"

"Why should we?"

"Well… Then I guess me and baby-chan will be going elsewhere, somewhere people appreciate us…" There. Clue given.

A few seconds went by.

"What?" Shinaku's mouth hung open. Kotome patted his red hair understandingly.

"I'm pregnant, silly"

In the end she received her foot rub.

...

FIM! :)

What do you think of this totally whacky pairing? I had fun! xD


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